Right from the Start
by quiet-raindrop
Summary: My own personal Dick/Babs story focusing on their school life, their relationship, and how Barbara finds out that Dick is Robin. No one said that it would be simple.
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note:**A few things. 1.) Any names you do not recognize are people that I am making up and I have made up a lot of people. 2.) Time passes quickly in some chapters so keep an eye out. Insert a sufficient time passage between this first chapter and the second one to come. ** Please **keep in mind that this is kind of my personal take on Dick/Babs so they may get out of character a few times, but I really try not to. **Special Thanks **to everyone who have been reviewing. You are all awesome! **Special Special Thank to: **Abbie Brown and TheSkullHat, who took extra time and wrote me a haiku. Thanks guys!

**Extra Note: **This is my first story to have multiple chapters. After writing this, I realized how much I like one shots. They are simple and to the point. This a long time to write, but I had to get it out of my head. (However, I really like this, if that doesn't sound to narcissistic. :}) **P.S. **_This means is thinking_

**Disclaimer: **As you might be able to guess: I do not actually own any of the Batman characters as they belong to their rightful owners.

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++++++++++++++++++++++++Chapter One+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Richard Grayson could not get out of the school fast enough when the bell rang for recess. Not caring who saw him, he ran passed all the other students of Gotham Academy and flew out the back doors of the school. Bursting out of the doors and running passed the yard area; he headed for the edge of the school's property. A large oak tree, stood proudly there. It was one of the few large trees untouched by Gotham City's expansion. It sat right next to a chain link fence that had years of garbage trapped against it. There had always been talk of cleaning up that side of the property, but no one had ever ventured out that far to do so. For this, he was thankful. When he arrived at the base of the tree, he put his hands against the trunk trying to catch his breath. He pulled at the tie knotted at the base of his throat. The school uniform was uncomfortable enough without the sun bearing down on top of you.

"_This is it! I can not put up with this anymore!" _He punched the tree with his fist. Pain shot through it immediately. _"That was stupid." _He rubbed his hand.

Looking up into the tree, he gave a leap and grabbed the lowest branch. It gave slightly and bounced back up as he secured his grip. He swung himself up and over the next branch quickly making his way to the top. He sat on top of a sturdy branch looking towards the direction of the school. Pushing aside some branches, he was able to get a better view of the surrounding area. Ah, yes, Gotham City. It contained all the same things any normal city would have only throw in even taller skyscrapers and maniacal villains. Dick sighed. _". . . and that is sometimes the easiest part." _ He leaned his back against the main trunk of the tree and looked up. Beyond the leaves lay a perfect blue sky, untouched by the problems below. His sudden movement startled some birds from the top of the trees. _"Robins. How ironic."_ He gave another sigh. How he wished it was Robin that went to school instead of him. Robin wouldn't put up with kids teasing him. Robin could hack into the school systems and change mean kid's grades. Robin could go from class to class without even being detected. "_He could travel through the air shafts."_ How he wished that he could. That would put an end to running into kids you didn't want to talk to and annoying girls. They could be the worst.

"Bad day?" The voice came out so clearly and suddenly that Dick almost lost his balance. His first instinct was to look back down at the ground.

"Over here. Right across from you."

Dick spun around to see the head of a girl sitting on a branch on the opposite side of the tree. The head disappeared for a moment, but than reappeared. He got a better look at her and she leaned around the trunk. She sort of looked familiar. Red hair, slim build, green eyes, and: the ever popular Gotham Academy uniform.

"Wait. Did you climb up here in a skirt?" He asked. Realizing at the moment he was speaking that it was a silly question.

"Yea. It took a little while. Not as fast as you did it." Her eyes glowed with admiration. "So, rough day?"

Dick gave a grunt.

"To put it shortly, it was a disaster: heavy on the 'dis'." She gave a funny smile revealing white teeth.

"Heavy on the 'dis'" She repeated slowly. Dick ran a hand through his now slightly messed up black hair.

"Never mind." The girl bit her lip as she watched him.

"Yea mine too. And it's not even over." She said miserably. They sat in silence each on their own side of the tree. A slight breeze picked up and rustled the leaves. They gave each over a smile.

She began speaking first. "So, I'm Barbara Gordon. I'm up in this tree because I'm tired of dealing with people." Dick gave her a real grin.

"Me too." He swung his legs through the air. He looked closer at her.

"You seem normal. Why are people bugging you?"

"You want a list? Okay, well for starters, some people still pick on the hair color, then there is always the teasing about how much I care about studying, and

finally there is my dad." This immediately peaked Dick's interest.

"So, what about him?" This was Gotham, he could be anyone from a stockbroker to criminal in jail. Dick waited for an answer. She gave a sigh.

"He's the police commissioner." Dick blinked. That was right –Gordon. Batman and Robin met him all the time.

"So, what?" Barbara stared at him in disbelief.

"So what? That right there gives kids all kinds of material. Plus he is paranoid that someone is going to kidnap me or . . . well, some such thing. I can never go

over to any other kid's home unless my father has met their parents, and I have to text him practically every half hour or he is ready to send the entire force after

me." She paused, breathing heavily after her rant. "Not that anyone wants to hang out with me." She muttered, but it was loud enough for Dick to hear. She

brushed her hair back. "Well, enough about me. What about you?" Dick stared at the ground before answering.

"You really don't know?" He put it more bluntly than he meant to. He watched her go slightly red, as she looked away sheepishly.

"I try not to take as fact everything I hear." She said quietly. She slowly turned her face back to his and met his now serious blue eyes.

"Try me." He was trying not to sound angry. She looked uncertainly at him but spoke.

"You're Richard Grayson. You grew up in a circus and when your parents . . . died . . ." she said softly catching the flash of pain in his eyes, ". . . well, you live with

Bruce Wayne now. You are really good at math and . . . that is really all." She looked regretful at having said that much. Dick took in a deep breath.

"Well that is all true so you can log it away as fact now it you wish." She gave a small nod. Dick decided that it was best to change the subject.

"So what class do you have after this?"

"English"

"Really? Me too? Where do you sit?"

"In the back left corner. You sit in the middle right?"

"Wait, you're the girl who wrote that paper on Shakespeare that Mr. Cormick kept raving about? That was really good." Barbara glowed with some pride.

"I did a lot of research on that paper. I was really happy with it." She sighed. "I don't understand how so many of the kids here don't care about their grades."

"Because most of them come from wealthy families and don't need to care too much about their futures." Dick said with certainty.

"Yea, well they should leave us average people alone. Some of aren't that inherently smart!" Barbara complained.

"You're smart, I can tell." She smiled over at him.

"Thanks." She sighed and glanced back in the direction of the school. "So kids are giving you a hard time?" Dick glanced in her direction.

"I really don't want to talk about it."

"Okay." She said simply. Dick looked up somewhat surprised. Just like that, she was willing to drop it with out any further pestering or prodding.

"So uh, Barbara . . ."

"You can call me Babs if you want to. Friends call me that. Which, at this point, means one person and she still doesn't call me that." He smiled.

"You can call me Dick if you like."

"Okay." She smiled back.

"Does this mean we're friends now?"

"Sure. If you want to be." He replied. She looked around.

"Well there is no one else in this tree, so why not?" She reached her arm around the tree and they shook hands right as the bell rung.

"Race you down?"

"No fair. I'm in a skirt!" She said laughing.

"Alright come on."

They both made their way back down. Dick was a bit quicker of course.

"Ready for the second half?"

"No, but its okay." She dropped onto the ground and brushed off her skirt. "Some time we can race when I'm not wearing a skirt."

"I'll still win." He teased.

"Yea maybe. But at least I can give you some competition." They both headed back quickly to the large looming building. Some times the school day just didn't want to end, but at least now, they had found a friend.

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Yea! First chapter out of the way! Hopefully this will all go smoothly and I will have no trouble updating with more chapters. (As I mentioned, I haven't done a continuous story like this and I fear having trouble adding on more chapters. Ah, newbies, what are you going to do right?)

Alright tell me what you think. Advice, and (gentle) [be nice please! :}] criticism, would be appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2

**Authors Note: **Slightly slow chapter, contains proof that I cannot write actions scenes.

**AnonymousInternetNinja** : Thanks! I hope you continue to :}

**BatKate**: I see your point. Often, I dislike putting so many "he said" and "she said" in

And so I try to find creative ways to get around it. I'll see what I can do. Their

dialogue usually comes out so clear from my head I am probably forgetting to clarify sometimes. Thanks!

* * *

+++++++++++++++++Chapter 2++++++++++++++

Their friendship was off and running with great success. Sure, the people were still a pain, but at least they had someone that they could talk to. Dick found that he didn't completely loath going to school, a fact for which Alfred was thankful. Barbara was thankful to finally have someone to study with and help her when her laptop acted up.

"You just seem to know what's wrong with it and exactly how to fix it." Dick shrugged as a response. They were sitting in the library working on yet another paper that Mr. Cormick had assigned.

"He really doesn't want us slacking off." Dick commented as he typed. Barbara pulled another book off the shelf and laid it on top of the already large pile.

"So how about I take half and you take half and then we'll see from there?" She said.

"Sounds good to me." He said looking up from his work.

"Hey Gordon, you 'gonna leave any of the rest of us books?" Dick and Barbara looked up to see Vincent Myer, who was by no means their favorite person, bearing down on them. He was a bit taller than either of them. He had blond hair and a beak nose which earned him the name 'Beaker" not that anyone would tell that to his face since he was one of the popular kids.

"I wasn't aware that you could read." Babs said sweetly. Dick choked back a laugh. Vincent's eyes flared.

"Listen Gordon if you . . ."

"There are plenty more books Vincent you just have to know how to use the catalog system okay? Calm down." Dick said calmly. Vincent gave him a stone cold glare, not that he was intimidated. Batman's glare alone could eat this kid whole.

"Don't you start either Grayson. Don't think that just because you're rich now that you can just fit in with the rest of us here."

"What on earth would make you think that I would want to?" Dick shot back.

"Because everyone else wants to." He replied snidely. He gave a perfect smirk and walked away. As he did, Dick realized that he was clenching his fists so tightly together that it was hurting.

"Dick?" Barbara starred at him. His normally cheerful blue eyes were hard and his jaw was set. "Come sit back down." She tugged at his jacket's sleeve. He seemed to snap out of a trance, and reluctantly sat down across from her. Barbara counted to ten before talking. "You okay?"

"Yea." He opened the first book on the stack and stared down into it. After a few minuets, he rubbed his eyes. She noticed this.

"You need to get more sleep. By the end of the school day, you are always yawing like crazy."

"Yea, maybe I'll try to start doing that." He lied. "_As long as I'm Robin sleep will always be secondary."_

Barbara looked up from her book to see her really only other friend, Dawn, turn the corner.

"Hey Barbara, you up for a movie tonight?" Babs bit her lip.

"Ah, maybe. I'll have to check . . ."

". . . with your dad, I know. I'm not going to kidnap you or anything. Does he realize that?" The girl twirled the ends of her blond hair. Barbara sighed.

"I'm pretty sure you could be Mother Teresa and he would be suspicious." She said honestly. Dawn huffed.

"Well text me when you know okay?" She picked up her textbooks and headed out. Barbara shut her book and leaned back against her chair. Dick glanced at the clock.

"Wow, I need to be going too. Alfred doesn't like me to be late." He explained. Barbara nodded.

"Sure, I'll see you later." She watched as he picked up his stack of books. To her amusement, the stack was almost over the top of his head.

"Are you grinning at something in particular?" He said turning to stare at her from the side.

"What? No. Bye."

"Bye." He headed out.

Patrol started early that night. Rumors from the underground hinted that something big was underway, but so far there had only been the usual muggings, holdups, and murders. Robin sat on the top of the Gotham City Public Library watching the streets. He and Batman usually split up and joined back up designated areas. For now, they were waiting for something to happen so they were keeping a close eye on the streets. He could hear distant rumbles of thunder in the background. "_Great all we need. Rain makes everything so slippery." _He shot his grappling hook toward the building across the block and swung over. Landing firmly he made his way quickly down the left side of the street. Suddenly his communicator link came on.

"Robin, report in." Batman's firm voice came clearly across.

"Making my way to the center of the city as we speak, no signs of anything out of the ordinary yet, _at least not for us out of the ordinary"_ He added to himself.

"Stop and go down into the more residential areas on the east side of town. I've been listing to the police blotter and it's been unusually quiet over there, too quiet." Robin changed direction mid-flight and started out.

"On my way now." The communication link was cut. Dick sighed. Once again it was just himself with his thoughts. He came to a stop on the roof of an apartment building. The street was quiet. There was a small grocery store on the corner and a dry-cleaners down from that. Their neon 'closed' signs helped light up the area a bit more. "_Wait a second; Babs said her and her dad live in an apartment that had a grocery store on the corner."_ He stooped down and looked down the side of the building. A few of the windows still had lights on. _"There are probably plenty of grocery stores on corners in this town though."_ Still it had caught his interest. He looked around a bit further. All the building looked to be locked up tightly, and there wasn't too much noise either, just a few barking dogs. _"It is strangely quiet."_

"Robin, I need you by the docks immediately." Robin snapped back to reality.

"I'll be right there." He stopped calculate the fastest route to Batman's location by using the computer gadget that he wore on his arm. "E.T.A. four minuets." He vanished into the darkness.

He arrived quickly and quietly at Batman's side on top of a stack of loading containers on the dock. Batman said nothing at his arrival, but kept looking through binoculars over at the water front. Large shipping crates were being loaded off a ship. That itself wasn't suspicious, it was that the men were all heavily armed. "_And it's two a.m."_ Robin thought to himself. Following Batman's lead, he pulled out his binoculars as well. Nothing much could be seen even with night vision.

"No identifying marks, labels of origin, or any writing period to even try to trace." Batman said nothing at first.

"Well, let's go see." He finally said. In a moment, they both jump loading container to loading container until they were almost on top of the men. Without a glance in-between them, they began their descent. The first few men went down silently. But soon a cry arose from the men followed by gunshots. Darkness was on their side however and the fluidly took down men while avoiding bullets. A light from the dock office suddenly came on and a security guard came running out. Hanging his over the railing, he held out his small flashlight. His jaw dropped. Shots were fired in his direction as he ran back inside and picked up the phone.

"Hello? Yea, get someone down the docks right away. There is some sort of shipment coming in and there are men with guns! I don't know who. . . Batman is here is here even! Hurry please!" The man hung up the phone and dared to peak out the window. He then sat huddled down until the gun shots became non-existent and police sirens could be heard.

Down on the docks Batman collected bits and pieces to run tests on later. The lights from the police cars reflected across the water and bounced off the metal of the containers. Batman and Robin exchanged a glance and were gone before the first police officer set foot on the dock.

* * *

Alright tell me what you think. Advice, and (gentle) [be nice please! :}] criticism, would be appreciated. Or a haiku if you feel like one.


	3. Chapter 3

**Mimi: **Thanks! I will!

**Danni-Phantom13**: Ha ha! Thanks! Haikus make me happy!

**Theforgottenangel8**: Thanks soo much! :)

**Authors Note: **I'm having Barbara live in an apartment. I do not know if this is true or not, but there it is.** Remember**: _This is thinking._

* * *

++++++++++Chapter 3++++++++++

"So Dick what did you get for number seven. Dick? Hey!" Barbara waved her hand in front of his face.

"What?" Dick snapped back to life.

"Number seven?"

"Oh, ah, thirty-eight point two five." He recited it off from memory. Barbara stared back down at her work and gave a frustrated sigh.

"And you're sure that that is the right answer?" She asked hopefully.

"Yup." He finished eating his yogurt while Barbara continued to work at the problem. They were sitting on a picnic bench in the school yard during lunch today instead of by their tree.

"Ahhh! How can you do this so quickly?" She crunched up her paper and gave it a perfect toss into the garbage can nearby. She fluffed her mass of red hair. Dick shrugged as he pulled out his phone. As of yet, Bruce had found nothing to identify the place of origin of the crates. Meaningless to say, neither had the police. The crates had been filled with the usually types of guns, nothing new the city; however wherever they had come from had been carefully hidden.

"_It's a test to see how much we can figure out. Whoever it is, they're trying to see how easily we can track them down."_

"Dick!" Barbara said a third time. He quickly looked up and slid his phone back into his pocket.

"Yea, Babs?" He gave her a smile.

"Where is your head today?" She said seriously. "You keep losing your train of though, you aren't paying attention, and Mrs. Walters had to call on your twice before you realized that she was speaking to you!"

"I knew the answer though." He said with a grin.

"Seriously though." She looked straight at him. "_What is up with him?"_

"Just tired I guess." He said sheepishly. He rubbed the back of his neck.

"What on earth are you doing? Go to bed sooner!"

"Alright, Mom, alright, already. I'll try harder." He said teasingly. Barbara crossed her arms.

"_Is anyone paying attention to him over there and making sure he gets to bed? I don't expect Bruce Wayne to care, but I think at least Alfred should." _Barbara glanced over at her friend trying to decide the best way to broach the touchy subject. "Hey Dick?" He looked up questioningly noting the change of her tone.

"Yea?" They stared at each other for a moment.

"Are you doing okay? I mean over there." Dick blinked and then understood her meaning.

"Yea . . ." He said drawing it out. "Why?"

"Just wondering." She replied and then looked away.

"Why?" He repeated his eyes turning serious. "Babs, tell me."

"It's just. . . never mind."

"If you thought it was important enough to bring up it's important. So what is it?" He insisted.

"Does anyone pay attention to you over there?" She blurted out all at once. Dick looked stunned.

"What? Of course, but it's not like I need constant supervision. I'm not seven you know!" A few kids walking past stopped to look over at them. Gordon and Grayson is a fight? No way. Receiving a glare from the pair they moved on quickly.

"So, just because I'm not required to notify Bruce of my present location every half hour means that I'm not being taken care of in someway?" Dick was now seriously annoyed. Barbara's mouth fell open catching his intended jab.

"I know I complain about my Dad's over paranoia, but I know he is doing it because he loves me." She shot back.

"Oh! So now I'm not loved. Lovely. Thanks for your opinion. " The bell rang bringing the two out of their quarrel. Dick grabbed his book bag wordlessly and headed into the school. Barbara still sat on the bench looking defeated.

"_Good going Gordon." _She grabbed her own bag and headed after him. Taking her seat in English, she starred at the back of his head. All throughout the class he never once looked around or even glanced back at her. _"He must be really mad." _ Barbara twirled her pencil around as she waited for the time to pass.

Dick sat unmoving in his seat, not because he was angry, as Barbara thought though.

"_I can't really be mad at her. She is just being concerned. I honestly don't know what to do. It's not like I can explain about the whole 'Robin' thing."_ He leaned back in his chair and starred blankly at the board. _I mean, maybe my life isn't what I would like it to be but I am cared for, _and . . . . maybe 'loved' wasn't the way to put it. He and Bruce just had an understanding. They had both lost their parents and from that had sprung a sort of 'bond'. He flipped to the next page in his book. _"I mean, sure Bruce likes me or else he wouldn't have taken me in. I mean, I know he did it out of compassion, but letting me become Robin showed a whole other side of . . ." _Dick stopped and rubbed his eyes. _"Okay, I'm way over thinking this." _He tried not to think about it for the rest of the class.

A few more classes later, and school was out for the day. Barbara rushed to catch Dick before he left. She found him outside leaning up against the school building playing with his phone while waiting to be picked up. She came and stood in front of him. As soon as her shadow crossed his face he looked up.

"Hey." She spoke first hesitantly.

"Hey." He replied. They stayed silent for a minuet.

"Dick, I . . ."

"Let's just pretend that today didn't happen okay? We can reset tomorrow." He suggested. She sighed. She figured that he wouldn't want to talk about it anymore. It was hard getting him to talk about things too personal, not that she pressed him for it. A familiar car horn beeped and they turned around to see Alfred parked nearby in a Rolls Royce.

"I'll see you tomorrow okay?" He said it with a smile. Babs twitched her lips and then spoke.

"Okay, bye." She watched as he walked away.

As soon as he got into the car, and buckled up, Alfred started driving away. Alfred seemed to immediately notice the young man's mood.

"Are we all right Master Richard?" Dick sighed.

"I've just had a day Alfred, a really long day." He spoke while looking out the window.

"Anything I can help with?" At this, Dick had to smile.

"No not really. Thanks though." Alfred knowingly waited a few moments longer.

"It's just that trying to balance everything is starting to get in the way of everything. I don't know how Bruce makes it look so easy."

"It certainly was not in the beginning. I think he's just fallen into a routine now." Alfred replied. "Maybe you should ask him." At this Dick rolled his eyes. This did not go unnoticed by Alfred.

"Did I say something to amuse you?" Dick turned to face the butler.

"Some days I don't know if he cares one way or the other." Alfred suddenly hit the brakes. Dick put his hands up to stop his head from hitting the dashboard. The cars behind them honked in annoyance.

"If you mean to say that you believe that Master Bruce in some way or another does not care about your life you would be very sadly mistaken." Alfred looked severely at him. Dick sank back into the seat as Alfred started driving again. "If however, you feel the need to stop being Robin I'm sure . . ."  
"NO!" Dick shouted out. _"I would rather be Vincent Myer's lab partner for the rest of the school year rather then give Robin up. _ It's not just that Alfred, it's . . . some days I really don't know." Alfred looked fondly over at the dejected looking boy.

"Still having a hard time at school? I thought things were better now thanks to Miss Gordon." Dick smiled upon recalling his only friend.

"I'll make it through. I guess I will just have to try harder." He said determinedly.

Barbara got off at her stop and waved to the driver as the yellow bus pulled away from curb. Upon entering the apartment complex, she took the stairs up to the eleventh floor and opened the door. She sighed. The place really needed a good cleaning. Clothes had been thrown over chairs, dishes still needed to be washed, and the plants, like all the other attempts before, were dying. She shut the door and locked the bolt and the three accompanying locks that her father had installed. Walking to her small bedroom that faced the street, she threw her book bag on her messy bed. She put her hand on her hips. _"That's it. I'm cleaning!" _Starting in her room, she changed her bed sheets, picked up all the clothes she had on the floor, straightened her desk, so that she could actually use it, and even managed to vacuum the floor. Moving to their small living room, she threw out the two dead plants, the old magazines, and newspapers. From there she picked up her father's ties and hung them back in his closet, lined their shoes up by the door, and hauled the vacuum in to do the couch and the floor. A few hours later all she was left with was the kitchen. She hesitantly looked inside. It was not a pretty sight. She started out by doing the dishes and actually putting them were they were supposed to go. _"I don't know why putting them away always seems so hard." _She washed off the counter tops, put away the cereal boxes, threw out the old bananas, and them looked around. The refrigerator stood there looming. Opening it up, there wasn't much left that was salvageable. Milk, eggs, fruit, leftovers, deli meat, all passed expiration date were piled into a bag which was placed by the front door awaiting disposal. The only thing really left was some salad. _"So I guess that's what we are eating." _Yanking out the bag, she pored herself a helping and grabbed out the only bottle of dressing left which was raspberry vinaigrette. She thought about going out across the street and buying a tomato or something, but her dad would be scared if she wasn't home when he arrived. She surveyed the room. The apartment was finally clean. Hearing the sound of all the locks being undone, she walked out of the kitchen to greet her dad.

"Hi Dad." Commissioner Gordon, though tired, looked up surprised.

"Barb, you cleaned!"

"Yea we have got to try to do it more often that once every five months." She took another bite.

"Did something happen?" He asked concerned. Her mouth was full so she looked up questioningly.

"You usually only clean if something is bugging you." He expounded. She swallowed.

"I'm fine Dad. We're having salad tonight."

"Salad huh?" He replied taking off his tie.

"Yea because it is the only thing that isn't old or moldy." He grimaced.

"Okay, tomorrow we'll go grocery shopping." He went to place his tie on the chair back.

"Ah! Either in the hamper or in your closet it you don't mind." Barbara said.

"Oops sorry." He folded it on his arm and followed her back into the kitchen. As soon as he was seated, she got out a bowl and filled it with salad.

"Thanks Barb." He grabbed a fork.

"Busy day?" She asked sitting down at their small round table, although she already knew the answer.

He nodded and then swallowed. "Yea, it's been backed up all day, booking everyone, lawyers showing up, press . . ." he stopped to take another bite, ". . . anyway enough about my day. What happened to you?"

"Nothing happened to me." She argued as she poured him a glass of water. Her dad looked unconvinced.

"Barb. . ." He looked at her. "You cleaned practically the entire apartment so what is wrong?" He put down his fork. She said nothing. "Barbara, don't insult me, I'm your father as well as a detective so don't tell me I don't know when something is bugging you." She sighed and gave in.

"Dick and I just had, I guess you would call it a fight." He looked up surprised.

"You two? I find that surprising. About something serious?"

"Not really, I just was kind of asking about how he was doing at Wayne Manor and well the whole conversation went out of control." She leaned her elbows on the table. Her father sighed.

"You're concerned about him?"

"Well, I guess he has just acting odd lately because he's tired. I don't think anyone makes sure that he gets to bed." She explained.

"Tired?" She nodded. He father stared down into his empty bowl. "I hate to say it Barb but I have always had misgivings about letting Wayne have him. I know I'm not social services, but still. Who is anyone to tell Bruce Wayne no though?" He got up and put his bowl in the sink. He stopped to look out the window out into the dark night. "I can still remember the first time I saw that boy at the circus after I arrived. It's still one of the saddest things I've seen." Barbara sat quietly at the table. Gordon turned around to face his daughter. "Well, aren't we a gloomy bunch. I'm sure everything will be fine tomorrow. Dick seems like the type of kid who bounces back." He kissed her on her head. "Thanks for cleaning sweetheart. I'll try to be neater now okay?" She nodded and trudged off to do schoolwork for the rest of the night.

* * *

Alright tell me what you think. Advice, and (gentle) [be nice please! :}] criticism, would be appreciated. Or a haiku if you feel like one.


	4. Chapter 4

**Liza Cobbler****: **I will accept a smiley face. I like those too. Thanks a bunch for reading!

**Danni-Phantom13**: Thanks again! (Haikus are just fun!)

**Rhia-of-Themyscira****: **Your haiku works for me! Thanks! That really was a long paragraph. I don't think I have too many like it. Maybe. . . hmmm. I usually indent in places, but when I up-load stories that all goes a way for whatever reason. (Or it could be that I'm a newbie and still don't realize how to overcome stuff like that yet.) :} Thanks for reading!

**AnonymousInternetNinja****: **Thanks! I appreciate it. Babs is the type of girl to take charge I think. :)

**Author's Note: **Remember _This is thinking! _

**Disclaimer: **Hold on let me check. . . .yep, still own none of the Batman characters. Oh, well.

* * *

++++++Chapter Four++++++

As usual, Dick beat her to school. As she approached him, he looked up and gave her a grin. It was a new day.

"Hey there."

"Hey. Did you do the extra credit problem?"

"Yea." He paused to look up from his phone.

"Please tell me you got seventeen point thirty-six." Her green eyes pleaded with him.

"Hmm." He put a finger to his lips. "I think so." She slapped his arm. "Okay, okay! That's what I got!"

"Good." She said happily. The bell rang. "Ready to go?" He gave a nod.

"Let's do this."

And the day went fairly well. Three tests, one paper, and many lectures later they were free for the rest of the day. As they gathered their things from their lockers Barbara asked, "So any plans for the rest of the day?" Dick groaned.

"I have to go to a charity 'thing'. So I'm planning on having fun." He said dryly.

"I bet I'll have more fun than you. Dad and I are going to go grocery shopping."

"Yep, only looking at vegetables could beat out a party." He said laughing. She grinned.

"Yea, I cleaned yesterday and we have no food left, so we are going out. He is supposed to try and get off work early. We'll see." They stopped outside on the front lawn of the school. "Dawn and I may do something tomorrow. I still need to get permission."

"Well, I'll see you next week." She smiled back at him.

"I will." They parted.

Thankfully, her Dad did get off work in time to come home while the sun was just about to set.

"You seem better today." Her father commented as they drove along on their way to the store.

"Everything is back to normal. I don't think that Dick yawned once today." Her dad gave a nod.

Babs ran a hand through her hair. "Do you think I could hang out with Dawn tomorrow?"

"Do you know where you will be going?" Her father was always quickly down to the facts.

"The park, maybe the mall." She answered.

"Well, I suppose. She seems like a nice girl." He commented.

"Yea, she is." They pulled up to the mom & pop store that they often went to.

"You got the list?" Barbara nodded.

"Let's go." She led the way. They started out grabbing cereal and bread and then headed down to the produce. Suddenly the back of a familiar head caught Barbara's eye.

"Alfred?"

"Ah, Miss Gordon, how are you?" The English butler greeted her when he turned around.

"What are you doing out here?" She looked around confusedly.

"Well, as you might know, there is a gathering at Wayne Manor tonight and we ran out of olives. So here I am."

"I didn't know they would send you out for that." She raised an eyebrow.

"Last time we sent somebody they got the wrong kind, so I am here to see the proper ones are attained." He explained.

"Okay." She said, still finding it odd. "How is Dick doing?" She decided to ask.

"Master Richard? Fine by all indications, why do you ask?"

"Well, it just has been that he is always tired at school. I just wanted to make sure that he has been doing okay." Alfred seemed to ponder this.

"I have often thought that his going from such an active life to such a sedentary one has often caused him to have more energy than he knows what to do with. I for one have always thought he should do a sport or something. I often think that he can't get to sleep at night because he has done nothing with that pent up energy." Barbara thought about this.

"No offense to him, but he's a little short for some sports. He should do something like . . . join the math team!"

"I was not aware such a thing existed." He remarked.

"All the smart kids are on it. Dick would blow them all away I bet." Alfred looked intrigued.

"Barb did you find the . . . oh, hello Mr. Pennyworth." Her dad came up from behind her.

"Commissioner, how are you?" Alfred greeted.

"Same as always. Busy." They fell into a comfortable silence.

"Well, I suppose I should get back. Miss Gordon, I shall ponder what you said." Alfred gave a nod as a farewell.

"Thanks." She gave a smile. The Gordons watched as he left.

At the end of the evening, after the guests had left Batman and Robin went out for patrol. They stopped the usual muggings and bank robberies. All seemed as normal. Batman was not convinced however.

"Whoever they are they'll make their move soon. They've waited long enough." He said ominously.

"That's not good we don't even know who 'they' are" Robin said.

"We just have to be extra alert and observant. Even the smallest clue could be the break we are looking for." They split up and took their respective halves of the city. Nothing turned up.

Saturday was the most glorious day of the week. You could sleep in of course, but then you still had to do three hours of training. Coming down to breakfast, Bruce was already there reading the paper. Alfred served Dick as soon as he took his seat.

"Thanks Alfred."

"Good morning Master Richard." Dick plowed into his omelet. Bruce suddenly put down his paper and looked up over at him.

"Dick," he began.

"Yea?" He answered his mouth still partially full.

"It has come to my attention through Alfred, that besides school and Robin you really have no other activities."

"Okay." Whatever was coming, Dick knew he wouldn't like it. Bruce and Alfred exchanged a look. Alfred took the lead.

"I ran into Miss Gordon in the grocery store last night and as we talked I realized that you engage in no after school activities." Dick waited for the rest. "She informed me of that fact that Gotham Academy has a math team and I though it would be nice if you joined it."

"With what free time? _Thanks a lot Babs._" Dick gripped his fork tightly.

"It's only twice a week. Wednesday and Fridays. I think that should be manageable." Bruce said. Dick sighed in defeat.

"Okay, I'll try it." Bruce and Alfred exchanged a nod.

In another part of Gotham, Dawn and Barbara were trying to decide what ice cream flavor to get.

"I'm going with chocolate."

"You always get that." Dawn complained.

"Call me a traditionalist." Barbara shrugged.

"So anyway, I was talking to my dad and he still wants me to go to some school for science. I was like, hello I'm not into that. My parents totally don't care about my music. You are soo lucky you don't have scientists as parents. They expect me to be just like them! Chemicals, elements, test tubes, blah, blah . . . every single day." Dawn sighed and gave her cone a lick.

"Yea, I'm pretty lucky." Barbara reached down and pulled her phone out of her purse and opened it up.

"Who you texting?" Dawn asked looking across the table.

"Just Dick. I want to see if he's up yet."

Dawn looked at her watch. It was almost noon.

"He'd better be." She commented. Barbara laughed.

"There was a party last night. I just want to see how it went." Dawn gave a silly grin, which Barbara noticed.

"What?"

"Nothing." Dawn said as she gave a shrug. Barbara stared her straight in the eye.

"What?" Barbara demanded. Dawn waved her hand.

"Nothing, forget it." Barbara gave her a look. Dawn gave in. "You two are so cute." Barbara felt color rush to her cheeks.

"What is that supposed to mean?" she managed to say. Dawn shrugged again.

"Nothing really. It's just cute how every time he sees you his eye's light up like it has just made his day." Dawn paused to lick her cone again. Babs has completely forgotten about hers. She shut her phone and slipped it back into her purse.

"Are you going to eat up or what? We still have like a ton of stores to look in. I need shoes for my cousin's wedding remember?" Dawn rattled off not noticing the look that crossed her friend's face. Barbara nodded and quickly ate up, suddenly wishing that the whole shopping trip was immediately over.

* * *

**Random End Notes: **Running into Alfred in a grocery store would be awesome, why did I do it here? No idea, it's even confusing to me, but I let him do what he wants. (Seriously, it's weird I know)

Alright tell me what you think. Advice, and (gentle) [be nice please! :}] criticism, would be appreciated. Or a haiku if you feel like one.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: **2012 Olympics! I am an Olympic freak. I love it!

**poetgirl323**: Thanks for the review! I really wanted Babs to have a girl friend to talk to for plot purposes,

so that is why I invented Dawn. No, none of the team will show up (sorry!) partly because as of the moment, I am not confident in writing any of them. Plus, I sometimes have trouble balancing a lot of characters, which is why I made some people up in this one. (They are easier to control.) :)

**Danni-Phantom13**: That's okay! Nice to have you reading!

**Rhia-of-Themyscira****: **Glad it was easier reading for you! I am so excited for what is to come in this story!

Glad to have you!

**jdcocoagirl****: **Thanks for reading! There is a lot more to come!

**Remember: **_This is thinking!_

**Disclaimer: **I still own no Batman characters. I have no idea why not though. :(

* * *

++++++++Chapter Five++++++

Dick indeed joined the math team and indeed proved an invaluable asset. The team suddenly was on fire winning all their matches since Dick joined. Dick even was willing to admit that he was having fun. The other team members were nice, and everyone else, even Vincent Myer, had lightened up on him. One school day Dick and Babs were both starring in the trophy case out in the hall.

"You are going to get a big head." She said to him. Dick grinned at his friend.

"No I won't." He replied back with a grin. Their reflections bounced back at them against the glass. The bell rang.

"See you at lunch." They both headed off to their classes.

The morning seemed to go by pretty quickly. By the time Barbara reached Chemistry, her stomach was growling. She took her seat in the lab next to her partner Victoria Myer who, while not as annoying as her brother, still managed to get on Barbara's nerves. "Hey Vic."

The blond girl turned to face her. "Hi Barbara." Victoria tapped her perfectly manicured nails against the table as they waited for their teacher

"That's a cute purse." Barbara commented.

"Oh this? I know isn't it! I saw . . . whatever that movie star's name is, with one and I had to have it" She babbled happily. Barbara nodded and continued to stare ahead at the marker board until Mr. Brinks came in.

"Alright class, today with get to play with chemicals!" he announced cheerfully. Barbara liked Mr. Brinks he was an older teacher but still was full of energy. He had a head of stark white hair and a mustache with a mind of its own. As he passed out the chemicals, he started to explain each one was and the order they were to pour it the beakers to get the correct reaction. Half way through his instructions, Victoria started to whisper to Barbara.

"So your friend Richard Grayson is doing well as a mathlete."

"Yea" Barbara responded still trying to listen to Mr. Brinks lecture.

"Even Vincent is impressed."

"Great." Barbara responded shortly now annoyed at her partner's talking. Victoria seemed to go back to listening to their teacher much to Babs happiness. The class was almost ready to start mixing chemicals when she started talking again.

"You should totally date him. You and Richard as so cute" Barbara snapped out of her trance.

"Wait, what!" She glanced over at Victoria as the girl put her goggles on. Babs reached for her own as well.

"I mean think of what it could do for you." Victoria continued. Babs looked confused. "Socially I mean. You would climb the ladder overnight." At this point Barbara knew her face was red.

"Don't be silly." She hissed loudly. Mr. Brinks glanced over in their direction. They both went silent. He continued. Barbara took a few deep breaths.

"Oh come on," Victoria whispered, "You guys already hang out with each other all the time; you would be fine." Barbara starred at her in disbelief.

"_Is she crazy? There is no way. Plus I don't like Dick like that."_

"Don't give me that look Barbara." Her lab partner said. "At least think about it. You could go to parties and hang out in a whole new circle." Barbara continued to stare. She wasn't blind to the fact that Dick was considered cute. Only every girl in the school would say so, but he was always to smart to bother with any of them.

"Okay, seriously, stop." At this point she was panicking.

"Are we all ready class? Go ahead." Mr. Brinks said. Victoria, who was not paying attention, turned to Babs.

"So which one do we pour in?" She asked. Barbara was completely flushed and annoyed. She picked up a tube and handed it to her. Victoria poured it in the beaker. Instantly a gas filled the air.

* * *

Dick had to laugh. They both had come to sit in the oak tree as Barbara recounted her story.

"I wondered what all the yelling was about." He said scratching his head.

"Victoria kept telling everyone that it was a nerve gas and everyone was freaking out." Barbara leaned against the trunk and starred down at he ground. "Of course, she's blaming me." Dick gave a grin.

"It's not like to you space out Babs." She shrugged as an idea formed in his head. "Unless . . . you didn't do it on purpose did you?" He asked with the start of a grin on his face. She shrugged again and looked away from him.

"Babs!" he started laughing all over again. "That is hilarious."

"She was getting on my nerves." She confessed. Dick breathed deeply as he tried to recover.

"What was she saying? I didn't think she normally teased you." He said becoming serious. He noticed a bit of redness in her cheeks.

"Can we blatantly change the subject?" She said suddenly. He smiled.

"Of course we can." He replied cordially. So they did.

After final school bell had rung, everyone flooded the halls on their way to their lockers. Barbara felt like she was in a fog. _ "Come on Barbara snap out of it. Don't let one silly comment by some silly girl affect you like this._" She started dialing in her combination. "_But it wasn't just Victoria, Dawn said something too. What do they know?" _ She argued with herself as she started taking her books out. "_Everything is normal. Dick doesn't act any differently around you then anyone else. He's nice to everyone." _ She gave nod to herself as she shut her locker and spun around directly facing . . .

"Dick!" She said fairly loudly. Some kids stopped to look over.

"What? I didn't even sneak up on you that time." He grinned and his eyes sparkled as they lit up. Barbara noticed this instantly.

"_That is always how Dick smiles. His whole face lights up. It's not just for me." _ She managed to smile back. "You just startled me." She swung her bag over her head. "Another day done . . ."

". . . and more work to do." Dick chimed in as they started walking.

"Hey Barbara!" A familiar voice rang out. Both of them stop to let Dawn catch up.

"Pink highlights, nice" Babs commented. Dawn fluffed her hair.

"I know I like it. Hey Dick." She greeted him too.

"Hey Dawn." Dick gave her a smile, but much to Barbara's dismay his eyes did not light up and sparkle.

_"But they always do" _Babs bit her lip as the thought ran through her head.

"So I was thinking if you want to jump ahead on that paper we should meet a few times this week is that okay?" Dawn asked her.

"What? Ah, yea sure. Just let me know." Barbara said.

"Awesome. I'm off to my band's practice!"

"Have fun." Babs called out as Dawn rushed away. She sighed and turned back to face Dick. He was staring at her.

"What?" She tried not to look him in the eye for fear of blushing.

"What?" He replied back. She stuck her tongue out at him and they headed off in their separate directions.

For the next few weeks, Barbara had a hard time paying attention. _"I just need to stop listening to everyone. This is silly. Dick does not like me." _ She would convince her self of this, and then when she saw him it threw her all out of whack. _"Okay, so he is cute. So what? So are plenty of the guys here. Kind of. They don't have those blue eyes of his or his dark black hai. . . .STOP IT!" _ She slapped her forehead so loudly that her teacher looked up.

"Miss Gordon?" Everyone in class was a starring at her.

"Ah, sorry, bad headache. I'll be okay though." The teacher adjusted her glasses and kept talking. Barbara's face burned. She had to stop making a fool of herself. At lunch, Barbara stood in the cafeteria line behind Dawn. She was telling Barbara about her cousin's wedding but Barbara wasn't exactly paying attention. They both headed their different directions—Dawn to sit with her cheerleading friends and Barbara found a place in the corner.

"Hey aren't we sitting outside?" Dick's voice made her look up and inadvertently blush.

"Oh, ah, I guess I feel like sitting in here today." She offered lamely. He sat across from her and dug into his food.

"You going to eat? I brought some of Alfred's cookies." She smiled and picked up her fork.

"You have your math league thing after school today right?" She asked. He nodded.

"I was hoping that after words we could hang out." He suggested. Barbara sat up straighter.

"Ah, actually, I have plans already." He looked surprised.

"Oh, okay. Maybe tomorrow then."

"We'll have to see." She stated and then took a drink of water. Dick was giving her an odd look. She tried not to notice. After school that day, Barbara made a decision: she needed to put some space between herself and Richard Grayson.

* * *

Alright tell me what you think. Advice, and (gentle) [be nice please! :}] criticism, would be appreciated. Or a haiku if you feel like one.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: **

jdcocoagirl: You might get some eventually, but maybe not the way you think. Things are about to pick

up here. :)

poetgirl323: Thank you! Thank you!

Danni-Phantom13: You are so demanding! :) Well, let's see here. Thanks for reviewing all this time so

far. I really appreciate it. It gives me confidence as I go along with my story. (Although it is already

completely written, as I might have mentioned before.) I just adjust and proof read and proof read some

more. (I can't stand errors. Little things like 'her' instead of 'here'. Arg! I hate when I do that.) Any way

about your random question, I can only do DickxBabs. I am one of those people who grabs onto a couple

and can go no other way. I can't compute anything other than DickxBabs. I just . . . it . . . . .I can't even. . .

to even try . . . . .I can't . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hope you are happy that my brain almost fried. :}

* * *

**Warning! Errt! Errt! **What's this? That is the sound of a bad sub-plot coming your way. I really couldn't

write any of the primary Batman villains with any confidence, so I had to come up with something else.

Don't get too invested in it. It's . . . eh, you'll see.

**Remember: **_This is thinkinig!_

**Disclaimer: **The odds of me owning any of the Batman characters are about the same odds of me winning

a gold metal at the Olympics. (Not going to happen :})

* * *

++++++++Chapter Six++++++++

Trying to somewhat avoid Dick was easier said then done. They always did stuff together, so Barbara had to invent things for herself to suddenly do, watching the neighbor's dogs, school projects, and other things, anything she could think of. He seemed to take this well at first, but as it went on he seemed almost worried. Oddly enough, the first one to notice was Bruce.

They were coming back from a charity party in fact. Bruce was at the wheel of one of his Ferraris with Dick sitting in the passenger's seat –he had really not said a word all evening. Bruce picked up on this instantly. Dick was always acted cheerful when they went out, and it wasn't even all an act. Dick was just a naturally happy person. Bruce envied this in some respects. However, the Dick Grayson he saw tonight was mostly faked. Oh, he had smiled at all the right times and said all the right things, but something was off. Bruce glanced over at the young man who was starting out the window tapping his fingers against the leather interior. Bruce gave a sigh. This was more Alfred's territory.

"You doing okay Dick?" He asked casually.

"Yea." He mumbled in response.

Bruce frowned and tightened his grip on the steering wheel.

"_Okay, that didn't work." _ He decided to try a different approach. "Do you want to stop for some ice cream?" At first Dick, didn't say anything. Bruce was about to repeat it when he finally answered.

"No, I'm fine. Thanks though." Dick said dismally. Bruce starred straight ahead. Whatever it was, it was bad. Dick had never turned down ice cream up to this point. They drove the rest of the way to Wayne Manor in silence. When Bruce parked and cut the engine, they both sat there for a few moments. Bruce was quickly trying to think of something to say, when Dick ended the silence.

"I just don't know what happened." Bruce turned to face the boy, but didn't say anything. "I mean, she just started avoiding me. Not like an 'I'm mad at you' avoiding just a straight out avoiding. I even tried to ask her friend Dawn if I did something to make her made at me and Dawn had no idea. I don't think I did anything." Dick took in a breath of air. "I mean, if I did something she should just tell me. But she doesn't seem angry at me, she's just avoiding me. Does she not want to be seen with me? What did I do? I don't think I did. . ." Bruce cut him off as he started talking in circles.

"Whoa, okay stop. Are we talking about Barbara Gordon?" Dick nodded. Bruce leaned back into his seat in thought.

"Do you think I should just straight out ask her?" Dick waited for a response. _"Why on earth did I just spill all of this to Bruce of all people?" _He groaned inwardly.

"I think the day we figure out women will be the day we figure out the Joker." Dick grinned at this. "Just ask her." Bruce said simply.

"Because if she is already mad at me she can't get too much angrier if I seem to have no clue why she's angry at me?" Dick surmised. Bruce worked the response over in his head.

"Something like that." He finally said.

"Okay, I guess I'll try it tomorrow." Dick said as he slumped back against the seat.

"How about some solid hours of patrol to clear your head?" Bruce suggested. Dick smiled again. Sometimes, Bruce did know exactly what he needed.

In no time, Batman and Robin took to the streets. They had, not too many days ago met with Commissioner Gordon who was still investigating the untraceable guns. Nothing else much noteworthy had happened, just the usual bomb threats, carjacking, and drug busts. Robin grimaced as he swung across to a building. His wrist was still soar from that last one. He stopped on top of a local store front to survey the area.

"Robin." Batman's voice came across the communicator.

"Go ahead." He responded.

"Go through the residential areas again. I just found several men breaking into some of the apartments. They look as if they are all from the same gang." He ordered.

"Heading there now. _Great all we need coordinated break-ins." _ There were plenty of underground gangs in Gotham, all trying to prove to each other that they were the best. This led to all sorts of trouble. _"Nothing we can't handle though."_ As soon as he arrived, he did a quick scan. Nothing much to be seen: stray cat, plenty of garbage cans, bits of newspapers . . . one lone kid walking around the block.

Robin did a double take. _"Are they crazy?" _He pulled out his binoculars and took a closer look. Definitely a kid, not just any kid: Barbara. _"What is she thinking?"_ She was just walking plainly dressed in jean and a sweatshirt, acting like it was just a normal neighborhood. _"She knows better"_ He was going to watch to make sure that she got back to her home when a shadow caught his eye. Two figures standing in the alley that she was right about to walk passed. He didn't even need to think twice: he just acted.

Barbara suddenly got the feeling that she was being watched. _"Okay this was a really bad idea."_ She picked up the pace. Suddenly, a rather large man stood right in front of her.

"Hey, little girl, are you by yourself?" He asked menacingly.

"No." A voice replied behind her calmly. "She's with me." Barbara spun around just in time to see another thug who was right behind her being taken down by a blur of red, black, and yellow. Robin took down the first thug easily. He spun around to take out the other one, but Barbara beat him to it.

"Oh!" She gave out a cry as she stepped back as the man fell flat. She looked stunned. She turned to face him suddenly realizing who he was. It was pretty obvious. Large letter 'R' emblazoned on a shirt of red, black and yellow cape. She suddenly looked sheepish. She lowered her closed fist.

"I, ah, have had some karate lessons." She explained. Dick was sure he looked a little stunned too.

"_That's right. Her dad did make her take some. I completely forgot about that." _Summoning up his best grin he replied. "I can see that."

"Yea, ah, sorry." She wrapped her arms around herself. Dick released the breath he didn't realize that he had been holding. She was okay.

"Well," he began, "let's see who we've got here" She move aside as he bent down and pulled what look like flat phone from his utility belt. Picking up the first thug's hand he pressed it to the screen. Instantly, a blue light appeared. Images flew across the screen and then stopped with a low ding noise.

"Ahh, well, our friend here is not the greatest citizen, let me put it that way. Armed robbery, assault, more armed robbery. . ." He scrolled down the screen.

"What about this one?" She asked now extremely interested. Robin looked up and stepped over the slightly fat man.

"Hmm. Not any better. Petty theft, forgery, assault, illegal possession of a fire arm . . . oh and he's on probation to see?" He turned the screen around so that she could see. She started at it fascinated.

"So it automatically searches the Gotham City PD computer banks?" She asked captivated.

"Among other things. It also has alerted the police to their current position and they should be on their way to pick them up." He knelt down and tied them up. Barbara still looked stunned. He glanced up at her. "And do not think you do not get a lecture about walking around after dark. There are all sorts of weirdoes out here. You of all people should know that best." He insisted. Barbara blinked at him.

"You know who I am?" She asked slowly. Dick hid a smile.

"Of course." He replied. He finished tying them up.

"I know I should have known better but I was just frustrated. My paper is taking forever to write and life right now is just . . ." She trailed off.

"Life's a killer huh?" He sympathized. She nodded silently. Suddenly, she snapped to life.  
"Wait, you said that the police are on their way? My dad is going to kill me!" Sirens could suddenly be heard in the background. Robin stood up.

"Just go back inside. He won't know you're here."

"I live on the other side of the block, and as soon as his men see me it will be the first things out of their mouths to him. Plus, any crime with in seven blocks from our apartment automatically brings him home to check on me." She looked around frantically. Robin made up his mind quickly. Launching his rappelling hook at the apartment's roof, he held out his arm.

"Come on." She starred at him. "Do you want to get caught or what?" He asked. She glanced back. Flashing lights could be seen. She hesitantly walked forward and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Hold on tight." He instructed. They quickly were raised off the ground and onto the roof before the cops pulled up. Robin put a finger to his lips as they stopped to watch the officers pick up the unconscious men.

"Are job was made easier tonight boys." One of them said as they loaded the thug into the van. Barbara could not help but grin. She had helped out the police! With Robin of all people!

"Come on." He whispered. They ran across the top of the apartment to the other side. Barbara paused to take in the view.

About all the grim and smoke, Gotham could appear to be a lovely city. The skyscrapers reflected the sliver of moon light that shown through the clouds. The breeze was a bit chilly though.

"Which one is yours?" Barbara turned to face him. Her red hair whipped in front of her face. She fought to keep it out. Dick hid another smile. He liked her red hair, it matched her personality perfectly.

"Eleventh Floor. Right there" She pointed down the side of the building to a window. "That's actually my room." Robin secured the grappling hook once more to the roof.

"Please tell me you leave your window unlocked. Breaking into the Commissioner's house doesn't sound like a good idea to me." Barbara gave a smile at the look he gave her.

"It should be ajar actually."

"Then down we go." He announced. Barbara grabbed onto him and they were lowered down to the ledge of her window. Once sitting on the ledge, she pried the window open more until she could crawl through onto her desk which lay on the other side. She turned around so that she was kneeling on top of it.

"Ah, thanks again." She said to the masked face now perched on the ledge.

"You're welcome, just don't do it again." She nodded solemnly but gave a smile.

"That was exciting though. How can you do that every night?" She asked. He shrugged, but returned the smile.

"_You nearly gave me a heart attack Babs, don't do it again. I couldn't stand to lose you too." _The thought raced through his head but stopped at his lips. "Goodnight Miss Gordon. Stay inside." He ordered.

"Alright. Goodnight. Stay safe." She replied back. He nodded and was gone.

It was a good thing too. Seconds later, Barbara heard the locks and bolts of the front door being opened up. Quickly getting off the top of her desk, she pulled out the chair, opened a few random school books, and turned on her desk light. She laid her head on her desk, closed her eyes, and waited.

"Barbara? Barbara?" She heard her father's frantic voice. He reached her room and peered in.

"Barbara?" he whispered now.

"Eh, what?" She raised her head up slowly and rubbed her eyes. Her father came in the room. "Dad? What are you doing here?"

"I was working late kiddo. A report came in of something happening on the other side of the block so I came back here. Didn't you hear the sirens?" Barbara gave a soft smile as she turned her head and looked at her alarm clock.

"It's pretty late dad. Almost two. I think I'm pretty used to hearing sirens around this place." Her father ran a hand through his hair.

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"I know." She said with understanding.

"You feel asleep studying again huh?" He guessed.

"Yea, I guess so." She replied with a lazy shrugged.

"Well you better change into pajamas and get to bed if you don't want to be sleeping through class." He leaned over and kissed her forehead."

"You too." She added. He gave a sigh.

"I'll make a few calls and then I try to get some sleep."

"So was it a robbery?" Barbara asked. Her dad looked up.

"Oh, a something like that. The officers found to thugs tied up on the street. They both talked as if they were taken out by Batman or something. They seemed pretty spooked." Gordon surveyed his daughter's reaction. Sometimes she showed too much interest in police work, but she was safe. He gave a sigh. He did not mention to her that the thugs admitted to trying to mug a kid—a girl they said. His heart almost gave out when he heard the report. But she didn't need to know that. He watched her as she pulled out some clothes out of her drawer. His little girl was still safe.

* * *

"You're late. Did something happen?" Batman looked over at him.

"Just more thugs." Robin tried to sound nonchalant. "What is going on?

"I think I'm on to something perhaps. I overheard one of them talking that this is some sort of trial."

"Trial?" He repeated. Batman continued.

"I got the impression that someone is looking to see who is the best gang is Gotham and whoever that is, will end up doing some sort of job for . . . well for now, we'll just say 'him'."

"That doesn't sound good." Robin commented. Batman was silent. He stared out into the night.

"We need a name, a face, a voice, anything. At the moment, we are trying to find a shadow." Batman finally said. Robin glanced around at the darkness.

"_Usually, shadows are on our side."_

* * *

Alright tell me what you think. Advice, and (gentle) [be nice please! :}] criticism, would be appreciated. Or a haiku if you feel like one.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: **This chapter contains more proof that I cannot write action scenes and more of my badly thought up sub-plot.

**jdcocoagirl****: **Good Bruce/Dick moments are solid gold in my book. I love reading them and I loved writing this one.

**Rhia-of-Themyscira****: **Thanks! Love bringing Robin into the picture. More good stuff to come.

**Danni-Phantom13****: **Still dealing with the aftershock. You're a goof. :) Thanks for reading!

**Remember: **_This is thinking!_

**Disclaimer: **Nope, still own nothing yet, and never will.

* * *

++++++++Chapter Seven++++++++

Barbara was woken up the next morning by her father.

"Time to get up Barb. I'm making breakfast." He called out into her room. She turned over sleepily. Then she shot straight up.

"Oh, my word!" The thoughts from last night swirled in her head. She had met Robin! She bounced out of bed and then came to a stop. _"On the bad side I did almost get mugged."_ She frowned. "_Probably a good idea to avoid that in the future." _ She walked over to the window and peered out and gave a sigh. It seemed like a dream at the moment. Looking at the clock, she quickly grabbed her clothes and headed off to the shower.

Arriving at school, with a few moments to spare, she found Dick leaning up against his locker. She stopped for a second and bit her lip. She was still kind of trying to a avoid him. _"I'm being silly. I practically got mugged last night! I'm going to talk to him." _She walked quickly over. Dick saw her and put his phone away.

"Hey, Babs can I . . ."

"Hey how are you?" She spoke over him. Dick blinked.

"Wait. You realize I existed again?" He said. She pushed some hair out of her face.

"What? Of course silly. I'm just trying to spend more time with my Dad. I feel like he is never home so I'm trying to be with him more. _At least that's kind of true." _Dick seemed to accept this.

"That's good. I thought I did something and you were mad at me." He replied. Barbara stopped fiddling in her locker and turned to him.

"What? No way!" She said, her eyes getting large.

"Good." He gave her a smile. "Let's get to class then." Barbara nodded and shut her locker spinning the dial. Dick suddenly reached out and grabbed her hand. Barbara immediately pulled it away from him.

"What on earth did you do to your hand?" He asked knowing perfectly well. _"She really walloped that guy." _

"Oh, ah, just practicing my karate." She rubbed her knuckles. The bruise was fairly faint, but she was careful not to let her Dad see.

"Against a brick wall?" He joked.

"It felt like one." She admitted. Dick still looked concerned. "Seriously, don't worry about it." She kept walking to her class. Dick sighed. He was going to have to keep an eye on her if he could.

On lunch, they met at their tree. They both climbed up speedily.

"So anything new with you? I feel like we haven't talked in forever." Dick said as they got situated.

"Me? Oh, not really. You?" She asked back.

Dick paused before answering. _ "So she isn't going to tell me about last night."_ He had mixed feeling about this. He wanted her to be able to trust him, but he kind of didn't want her to tell everyone that she met Robin. _"Not that she would I guess. It would get her into trouble with her dad if word got around, and who am I to talk about trust? She doesn't even know that I'm Robin." _

"Ah, Dick?" Barbara got his attention back.

"Me? Nothing much. Party last night was long and boring like usual. So can we do something after school today?" He asked hopefully.

"Sure." She grinned.

"Great." He gave her a grin. "I've missed it."

"Me too." She returned his grin. _"See? I'm being silly. Everything is back to normal."_

And everything seemed to be. They hung out for the rest of the evening almost until dark. They were walking to the police station where Barbara was going to meet up with her dad, when Dick's phone rang.

"God Save the Queen?" She asked grinning. Dick laughed as he fished it out of his pocket.

"Alfred . . ." he said and then answered. "Hello? Oh, yea okay. We're almost to the police station now." Barbara watched his face as he talked. It suddenly had become serious. "Wait. No, okay, okay, fine. Yea sure. Bye." He hung up and gave a sigh.

"Something up?" She asked concernedly. Dick gave her the usual smile.

"Nothing unusual, just my presence is required." They stopped in front of the police building on the steps. Officers were coming in and out; some said a quick hello to Barbara as they passed.

"Well, I guess I can trust you to find your way inside." He said.

"Yep. See you tomorrow."

"Sure" He gave her a grin that made her grin back.

"_Okay, seriously, the butterflies can stop now." _She said to herself as she turned to walk inside.

Dick watched her the entire way. He was feeling very protective since last night. As soon as she was out of sight, he quickly walked around the corner where Alfred had just pulled up. He opened the door and got in.

"Everything was going so well until now." He commented.

"I'm very sorry, but he needs you." Alfred pulled away from the curb. "You're things are in the back. I am to drop you off on the west side. Something is happening. He didn't have time to explain of course." Alfred made a sharp turn. A bump was heard in the back. Dick made a noise "Sorry." Alfred apologized.

"Yea it's okay. I don't need my head." Dick managed to joke. After a few more turns Alfred cut the headlights.

"I do always feel like I'm in a spy movie at this point." Alfred whispered as he pulled to a stop. "Do be careful Master Richard."

"Sure thing." He silently opened the door and bailed out. Alfred counted to ten and drove away.

Finding Batman in a badly lit room was impossible, so Robin sat on top of a support beam in the warehouse's center and got on the link.

"Batman, I'm in." He waited for a reply across the line.

"I was following a member of the Darkhawk's gang when he came here. They were already in a meeting when I arrived. I have reason to believe that they were the chosen gang of our shadow mastermind." Robin felt the lightest bend in the beam that he was on. Batman was right next to him now. "As of the moment they are about to call him." Batman finished. They stared down at the group of rough, hard edged men standing around talking.

"Wait, did you say 'were' the chosen group? What happened?" Robin whispered.

"As soon as they call him, I want a name and a voice, and then we move. They are all going downtown tonight." He spoke quietly.

"Think Gordon will have room?" Robin quickly counted at least twenty-five men. It was already getting pretty crowded at the station.

"He'll find some. Be ready. Move on my signal." Like that, he was gone. He took a spot on the opposite side of the room. Robin waited patiently. Finally, the men became quiet as one more guy entered the room.

"Listen up all. Tonight is the night. We have finally proven our worth to this guy. Unlike all those other losers, we were not caught by the Batman." A few small cheers were giving up at this. The head guy held up a cellphone. "I am about to call him now so listen up good."

"Wait, what are we gonna do for this guy?"  
"Yea, and who is he anyway?" A few different men spoke up.

"You idiots. You really think he's going to tell us all that? We'll be giving instructions sometime after this initial talk. Does it really even matter who it is? Seriously. We get paid and we all go down in history as 'THE' Gotham gang: the gang that finally grabbed a hold of this city. Everyone will know our name. We will help run this city."

"So when does this boss guy come here?" The head man rolled his eyes.

"I've got no idea. Don't pester him with questions either!" He glanced at the men. "Any more silly questions before I call this guy?"

"So we really don't have a name?" A guy spoke up.

"He told me to call him 'Sir' and that was it okay? Seriously now let's not screw this up." Punching in a few buttons, and turning speaker phone on, he set the phone on a crate in the middle of the room. The men gathered around in silence as the phone rang.

"Yes?" A metallic voice came across the line.

"We're all here and we want to talk to 'Sir'."

"On moment." The men stared at each other. Some of them almost looked nervous. A deeper scrambled voice came on the line.

"Gentleman, good evening. I assume you are all present."

"Yes sir, as you said, we are all here." The lead man spoke up.

". . .and on time. Impressive. I like my people to be punctual." Robin glanced over at Batman. He stood as still as stone. "Do you have any questions before I begin?" The voice asked.

"Actually a sir, we might have a few." The one guy spoke up.

"Good. I can't stand to blindly followed. Before I answer them, let me first congratulate you on your selection to join my team. Many other groups were in the running."

"We know." A few of the men chuckled.

"But we were the only ones to complete our job—holding up six banks in under a half hour without getting caught." One of the men recited. At this Robin had to let out a grin. _"All this and a confession too? Gordon should be able to hold these people for quite some time. They never did find who robbed those banks. That won't be a problem now."_ He glanced back over to Batman across the room. The voice continued.

"Yes, it was very impressive, and made my job of choosing a group a lot easier." Robin looked back over at Batman again. _"We have an alias for a name, scrambled voice won't to us to much good, but a taped confession is bonus."_ Batman then gave the most undetectable of nods, that unless you were looking straight at him, you would have never picked it up. They both descended rapidly. Shouts immediately arose, guns were draw and fired.

"What is going on?" The voice rang out across the phone.

"Were under attack from the Ba . . ." The leader dropped the phone and started running. Robin swerved to avoid being punched by one of the guys. Using a crate, he flipped up and back behind him, using a single stroke to take him down. From there, things ended pretty quickly. Batman strode across the downed men and picked up the phone.

"That was a good voice scrambler." He commented.

"As much as I love technology, some days I really hate it." Robin said taking the phone from him and plugged his wrist computer into it. He made a copy of all the information stored. It took no time at all to tie up the men and leave a taped recoding of their confession on top of the crate.

"Traceable?" Batman asked him after a few minuets.

"Not in the least, as expected." Robin stared at the data on his screen. "We at least gave this 'Sir' something to think about though."

"He'll have to find a new group, one of the others he mentioned. Come, I parked out back." Robin took one last look around and followed him out.

Meanwhile, over at the police department Commissioner Gordon though that perhaps he might go home early for once. "I'm almost ready Barb. Just need a few more papers." He spoke as he picked up more things off his desk.

"Your briefcase is already full Dad." She pointed out as she sat across from his desk in a chair.

"Yea, half my job is paperwork at this point." He replied. Suddenly, an officer charged into the room.

"Sir, a . . . oh, a sorry." He stopped talking when he saw Barbara.

"Well go ahead Phillips." He encouraged.

"Yes sir. An anonymous call just came in sir. The voice said that there were twenty-five persons of interest ready to be picked up and that there was a full confession ready as well."

"What?" Gordon stood up from his chair. "Where at?"

"The Fuller Machine Warehouse. Number 6 he said. I think Batman has done our job for us again."

Gordon seemed perturbed at this. "Get some men down there right away and be careful. Be in guard for anything suspicious. It could be a trap." Officer Phillips rushed from the room. Gordon stroked his mustache. He turned absentmindedly to face his daughter when he noticed the interested expression her face held. He went to the door. "Williams! Take a car and get my daughter home please."

"Dad. . ." Barbara pleaded. _"Batman means Robin too. I wonder how they always find where the bad guys are." _ Barbara huffed as she stood up.

"Be a good girl and I'll see you later okay?" Barbara mumbled a reply and followed Officer Williams out to the squad car.

As they drove she stared out into the night as the buildings flew passed.

"_To think that they are always out there night after night: it's amazing!" _ Her thoughts were interrupted.

"So how was your day today Barbara?" She turned to Officer Williams. He was a nice guy, really tall and stick thin, not really the intimidating type.

"As fine as school can be. Do you really think it was Batman?" She asked.

"What? Oh, ah probably. No one else in this city can find bad guys like that guy. Whoever or whatever he is." He turned the corner.

"Have you ever seen him?" She pressed him. Williams gulped and stared ahead.

"Seen the Batman? Nope, just his aftermath. I would not want to get on the wrong side of him. I'd be scared to death. I saw Robin once."

"Really? When?" She asked trying not to sound too excited.

"I was out on patrol and I happened to look up. He was sitting on top of the courthouse. The light from the flag pool caught the yellow of the underside of his cape. I almost accidentally ran a red light starring. But it was him." Williams paused suddenly. "Ah, you know I'm really not supposed to tell you stuff like that."

Barbara rolled her eyes.

"Yea I know. My dad is too paranoid about any interest I show in them. Who in this town isn't interested?" She argued.

"Well, then that's your story for the month okay?" He said as he pulled to a stop in front of the apartment. "Do I need to go in with you?" He asked hesitantly.

"No. I'll text Dad when I get in. Thank you." She shut the door. He waited until she entered the building before pulling away.

* * *

Alright tell me what you think. Advice, and (gentle) [be nice please! :}] criticism, would be appreciated. Or a haiku if you feel like one.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: **Not really much to say here. Which is odd for me.

**Disclaimer: **It is painfully obvious that I own none of the Batman characters.

**lolmak: **The first one made me laugh the most! Thanks for the haikus and the review!

**jdcocoagirl: **Thanks a bunch!

**Guest: **You are too nice. I'm not entirely satisfied with my sub-plot though. No other YJ characters will appear because I could not do I good job writing them so I won't even try. Thanks!

**AvarielArcher**: I appreciate it!

**Other Guest**: That so far has been my biggest flaw. Still working on it. Thanks for reading!

**Disclaimer: **It is painfully obvious that I own none of the Batman characters.

* * *

++++++++Chapter Eight++++++++

It was raining hard the next night when the time for patrol came around. Robin stared glumly out into the night as water ran down his face. For some reason, the rain in Gotham always felt really thick. Batman came up besides him.

"Let's go through the rural areas especially. Look out for anyone from the known gangs. We'll meet back up again at the normal location."

"Can I take the east side again?" Robin tried not to sound eager as he spoke. Batman glanced at him.

"I suppose." There was a question in his voice.

"I'm really trying to work on memorizing the area better." Robin hoped that answer sounded better than it did in his head. Batman gave a swift nod, but said nothing. He silently walked off to take the other half of the city.

Mercifully, the rain finally let up after a few hours. Robin checked out the usually haunts of the various gangs seeing if anyone was out. No one seemed to be. Checking the time, he headed off in the direction of Barbara's apartment. He landed quietly on the ledge outside her window. The light was off. He did a quick scan. One person in the room. Robin smiled. _"Good. Not that I expected you to be out." _ With this knowledge, Robin continued on for the rest of the night. The night turned up to be fruitless. For some reason the criminal world seemed quiet. That was not a particularly good thing. Dick had a hard time going to sleep that night. _"When is something going to happen? I hate not knowing what." _ He rolled over in his bed and finally drifted of.

These thoughts carried over to school the next day. Nothing that any of his teachers said stuck. He sat out in the oak tree waiting for Babs to show up still thinking. _"So now who will this 'Sir' guy use to carry out his plans? I wonder if the police have found anything out yet. I wish that . . ."_

"Ahh, Dick?" He looked down to see Barbara.

"Hey there! Come on up!" He called. She left her backpack next to his at the base of the tree.

"Uh, it's hot up here." She said fanning herself. He nodded and pulled at his tie.

"So, Dawn told me Mrs. Grant gave the class an extension on your biology test. That's sweet." She said.

"What?" Dick looked confused.

"Mrs. Grant gave you more time to study." She repeated. "For the test that was going to be today." Dick still looked blank.

"Oh! The test, yea. . ." Barbara gave him a look. ". . . yea I completely forgot." He admitted.

"Dick!" She exclaimed.

"I'm sorry. It's wouldn't have been your grade anyway."

"Still, when do you forget stuff like that?"

"Sorry. I had a really hard time getting to sleep last night." He said.

"Really? Me too." She admitted. "That rain was so loud. I hate the times when I have to be out in it."

"_Tell me about it" _Dick stared up into the tree. He glanced over at her again. She was staring off into space. _"I was just glad that you weren't out." _He sighed. Hearing this she turned to glance at him. He gave her a smile.

"_Please don't smile like that at me Dick. It messes with my head." _ Barbara turned away. Dick frowned.

"_What is going on Babs? Is something wrong? Why won't you just tell me? Don't you think I care?"_

They both sat in silence. Both unsure what to say. Barbara played with her hair. Dick broke the silence after a few minuets.

"So ah, what topic did you get for history?" He finally asked.

"The Spanish Armada." She said absentmindedly.

"That should be interesting."

"I guess." She said as she picked a few leaves and let them fall to the ground. Dick couldn't stand this wall that was suddenly between them.

"Hey, maybe we should go bowling tonight or something. You've always said we should go sometime."

"Ah, no I have to work on some stuff and I told my dad that I would go . . . with him to . . . ah . . ."

"You're starting to sound like me Babs." Dick said frowning. _"And I have an excuse. I just can't tell you it." _

"I realize that, sorry." She answered facing away from him. "I'm going back in. I told Dawn I'd meet her outside the cafeteria. She wanted me to read some of the lyrics that she's written." Without another word, she climbed down the tree leaving Dick blankly staring as she left.

Barbara found Dawn waiting for her. "Sorry, have you been waiting long?" She apologized.

"Nah, not really." Dawn said stopping chewing her gum as she grabbed some pages out of a folder.

"Thanks for giving me your opinion. You are the only person I trust to tell me what you really think."

Barbara smiled.

"So far you've been on a roll." She commented.

"Yea, but I don't really write that fast. Inspiration can come so slowly. It's not like anything interesting happens here." Dawn said. "I mean I'm not going to get anything deep out of daily life at school." She watched Barbara read.

"So were you out in the tree with Dick?" She asked. "I will never understand what you two talk about every day, and why can't you do it on the inside with the rest of us?" Barbara seemed to ignore this. Dawn tried another approach. "Why were you ignoring him days ago? I think you freaked him out." At this Barbara looked up.

"Everyone was just messing with my head and I needed some space okay?" Barbara explained as she looked back down at the pages.

"So everything is back to normal between you two?" Dawn watched Babs face carefully. It gave off a shade of red. "What is up?" Dawn demanded to know. Barbara glared at her.

"It's your fault." She charged.

"What did I do?" Dawn exclaimed. Barbara glanced around at the kids passing.

"Well, it's not your entire fault. Victoria didn't help either." Barbara told her.

"Whoa there. Please do not compare me to her." Dawn said holding her hands up. "What did we do?"

"It's what you said!" Barbara explained further.

"About?" Dawn prodded. Barbara bit her lip and then whispered.

"Dick and I." Dawn raised an eyebrow.

"Barb, I was just teasing." Dawn consoled.

"Were you?" She countered.

"Well . . . maybe not." Dawn admitted. "Look, seriously, don't over think it okay? It's not like he asked you out or anything." Barbara turned redder. Dawn's mouth fell open. "He asked. . ?"

"No! But now any time he says anything, I always put it through some sort of filter and I . . . get all confused." Babs rubbed her head.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to mess things up." Dawn said looking concerned.

"No, it's okay. It's all nonsense and I am putting it all out of my head." Barbara said with certainty. And she did . . . for a while.

Now Dick was completely confused. What was wrong? And why wouldn't she tell him? He seemed in a haze while doing patrol. A few stopped robberies and carjackings, he did everything on auto pilot. That is until the bat signal appeared in the sky.

"Robin." Batman's voice called across the line.

"I see it. I'm coming. _Kind of hard to miss there._" Robin quickly went to meet up with Batman on the top of the police headquarters.

Commissioner Gordon waited, as usual, in his beaten brown coat. The night was crisp and cool. A slight breeze brought with it an unpleasant smell from the rain last night. He eyed them wearily as they landed.

"You know I should really not be surprised anymore, but I am surprised." He said.

"At what?" Batman began.

"One night an entire gang with their own confession right there and ready to go." Gordon spoke still amazed.

"What did you find out from them?" Batman asked.

"Nothing that you probably don't know. They were going to take some big job from some phantom person on a phone. They really don't know too much. What I want to know is if you know anything else that I should." Gordon asked. Batman said nothing at first.

"We have a voice. A scrambled one for now, but we're working on it." Batman said evenly.

"Yea, us to." The commissioner said. "No location for the call either. It's been pretty quiet lately in the city; I think that scares me more than anything."

"Whoever is masterminding this will try again. He is planning something big, something that will grab the city's attention." Robin spoke up. Gordon walked around the roof.

"Great just great. All this city needs is one more lunatic." He stopped pacing. "So there is nothing else I should know?" Batman and Robin exchanged a look. Gordon sighed. "So I guess we're done here." He turned and walked away. Batman and Robin quickly vanished into the night.

Robin headed back to his route. He paused as he stared down Barbara's street. His mind told him to move on, but he couldn't. Landing on the roof of the brick building, he walked over and glanced down the row of windows. To his surprise, her window was open and her head was sticking out. Her red hair was softly flowing with the breeze. He took a step forward and then stepped back. _"Just keep going." _ He took one last look down, just when she looked up.

"Oh!" She exclaimed up at him.

"_Well, to late now."_ He thought. So he jumped down.

"Wait! Don't do that. Oh, my word, you could fall off." She said as he landed on the ledge. He shot her a grin.

"I'm pretty good at this by now." He mentioned.

"Oh, sorry. She apologized

"What are you doing up?" He asked casually. She ran a hand through her hair.

"Working on this history paper." She rolled her eyes. "I'm just glad it's a Friday night. I just kept on working until I looked up and it was suddenly two fifteen a.m. I saw the batlight. Is something up?" She asked excitedly. Robin cocked an eyebrow.

"Nothing new." He dismissed. What's the paper on?"

She crawled back off her desk and into her chair.

"The Spanish Armada. Know anything?" She asked. He paused.

"August 1588. Lots of water and ships. England won." She grinned at his answer.

"Thanks for the cliff notes." He shrugged. "Busy night?"

"Not really." He said honestly.

"I haven't seen you in a while." She commented.

"I don't always come by this way. But I thought I would make sure that someone didn't decide to go out for a walk." She picked up on his meaning.

"No I've learned my lesson. Thanks though." She replied. Robin stared back out into the darkness. It was quiet on the block.

"How's life?" He asked. She smiled.

"It got better, then worse again. I think it's all in my head." She stared out into the night with him. _"It's funny. It's just like talking to Dick. Well, before things got complicated. It was sweet of him to stop by. Who knew a guy with a mask could be so normal. _How was my Dad? I think you probably see him more than me now."

"Tired I think. There's a lot on his mind I'm sure." Robin sympathized.

"Speaking of which, I cannot believe that you and Batman brought down an entire gang in one fell swoop. I don't know how you did it." She exclaimed with awe.

"Who says I was there?" He teased.

"You must have been." She charged. He raised an eyebrow, but then grinned. She leaned back in her chair.

"_My dad would ground me for life if he knew that Robin was sitting on my windowsill and I was talking to him."_ She stared at the young vigilantly._ "He's a bit shorter than I thought though, but definitely skilled. _I don't know how just the two of you do it. It's such a big town. You need more people." She insisted.

"Thinking of helping?" Robin said it jokingly, but then regretted even suggesting it.

She laughed. "My dad would lock me up before I even left my room. I'd probably get killed really easily anyway." She sighed.

"Oh, I doubt that after your performance last time." She blushed from his praise.

"Thanks. My dad doesn't really like for me to be interested in police stuff. He tries to keep me as far away as possible from it. Once I get old enough. I don't even now if he'll let me attend college here in town. He's always talking about having me go someplace else where it safer." She said glumly. Robin blinked.

"_Babs, can't leave town! I couldn't leave town, not with Robin. I could not even imagine her not being here. Wait over thinking"_ He stopped himself_ . . . "_I think you're over thinking this. You have a long way to go. Anything could happen." He said hoping that it was the right thing to say. She nodded slowly.

The communicator snapped on.

"Robin. Where are you? You're late." Batman's voice broke through his earpiece. Robin sat up straighter and turned to face her through the window.

"Well, time for me to go." He announced.

"Why did something happen?" She looked down at the street.

"Just time to be moving on. Big city remember? Stay inside Miss Gordon."

"Stay safe." She told him. He gave a nod and then jump down. She let out a gasp. "Stop doing that!" She whispered loudly. She almost heard him laugh.

* * *

Alright tell me what you think. Advice, and (gentle) [be nice please! :}] criticism, would be appreciated. Or a haiku if you feel like one.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: **I'm late updating. I'm sorry, sorry. These first few days of this week have been flying.

**William Ice****: **Thanks! Hopefully I will keep you happy!

**Danni-Phantom13****: **Hahahah! Thanks!

**Rhia-of-Themyscira****: **Thanks a big bunch!

**Saint Ginger****: **Thanks. (Any chance you'll continue 'Into Thin Air?') :}

**jdcocoagirl****: **Lots more on the way! Thanks for reading!

**Anons: **Thanks for the input and the review!

**Disclaimer: **I still own nothing. They belong to some seriously lucky people.

**Remember: ** _ This is thinking!_

* * *

++++++++Chapter Nine++++++++

As always, the weekend went too fast. Dick decided Monday morning that he would try to get Babs to talk to him and tell him what was up. He found her leaning against the wall outside of her first class reading the weekly school paper.

"Hey Babs." She looked up and smiled at him giving him a greeting.

"Oh hey."

Dick took a breath. _"Start with something basic to get the conversation going. _ Did you get a chance to work on your History paper much?" She sighed in response.

"Yea. It's okay I guess."

"That doesn't sound to confidant. You always nail these things." He told her. She crossed her arms and twitched her lips.

"Could you read it on lunch and tell me what you think?" She suggested. Dick's face lit up.

"Sure. I'll see you then!" He gave a wave as he walked off.

At lunch, Barbara sat across from him. "It's a little long, sorry." She handed the pages to him.

"It's no problem." He assured her.

"There's not really a short version." She added. Suddenly a huge grin crossed Babs' face. She tried to hide it, but it caught Dick's eye.

"What?"

"What?" she echoed back.

"What was funny?" He asked. She pursed her lips.

"The short version: August 1588. Lots of water and ships. England won." She recited. Dick looked over at her.

"_That's what I . . . well what Robin said. _Well that is short, but I don't think your teacher would like it." He said pointed out with a smile.

"No, sorry, I'm interrupting, keep reading." He did.

"Well, everything is there. It just doesn't seem like your writing." He tried to put it gently.

"Ugh!" She groaned as she laid her head down on the table. "Ever had one of those weeks where everything just goes wrong?"

"Nope." He answered with perfect seriousness. She sat up and slapped him on the shoulder.

"Okay, okay! Yes! I've had those days okay? Stop!" He called out. She did. They stared at each other grinning.

"_I love when Babs and I are on the same page. We know each other so well. She always knows when I'm pulling her leg. And I always know. . ."_

"_I love how Dick can make me smile when my life is crazy. He's just . . ." _They kept staring at one another. Dick felt his face grow warm and he tugged at his tie.

"Just try again. I'm sure that you will get it Babs. You always do." He said.

"Hey you two." Dawn said as she walked up and stood next to Barbara. They both popped out of their reverie.

"Oh, hey Dawn." Barbara hoped her face wasn't scarlet. "How is your day going?"

"Pretty good." She nudged Barbara and shot her a look. Barbara knew her face was red now. She grabbed the pages from Dick.

"Thanks for looking at them Dick, I'll see you in class." She strode off dragging Dawn with her. As soon as they were inside the building, Barbara spun around to face her.

"I can't believe you did that!" She yelled at her. Dawn started laughing.

"Come on Barb, I couldn't help it. You two looked so lovey-dovey." She told her.

"Stop it!" Barbara ordered. Dawn grabbed her arms.

"Just admit it Barb. You like him." She demanded.

"No I won't!" She replied stubbornly.

Dawn groaned. "Why on earth not? You two are like perfect."

"There's no way okay? First of all he's Richard Grayson . . ." She started off.  
"Forget about the 'Bruce Wayne' thing Barb for one second . . ." Dawn stopped her.

"Fine, second . . ." the bell rang. Barbara escaped and rushed off.

"You better tell me later!" Dawn called after her.

Dick sat at home rolling an apple across the gray marble counter.

"Are you going to eat that Master Dick?" Alfred suggested as he rolled out some cookie dough.

"Hmm? Maybe." He said idly.

"Something on your mind?" The butler asked.

"Something is up with Barbara." He said shortly.

"Ah," was Alfred's only reply as he continued to cut out cookies. As Dick watched him, an idea formed in his head.

"Thanks Alfred." He ran off. Alfred paused in his task and looked somewhat confused as he watched the young man leave the room.

A few days later, Barbara woke up to her alarm with a headache.

"Agh." She rubbed her forehead and reached over to turn the annoying alarm off. Stretching out her arms, she walked over to the window and leaning over her desk, lifted the shade. Sunlight instantly flooded the room. "Ehh," She shaded her eyes until the burning sensation passed.

She looked out onto the familiar street. She paused. There, on her windowsill, was a brown paper bag. She climbed on top of her desk and opened the window. She scooted out part of the way and reached for the bag.

Suddenly, she snapped her hand back. _"It could be a bomb or something Barbara, this is Gotham after all." _She weighed her options. She looked towards her bedroom door and bit her lip. _"Getting Dad is not one of the options. How did it get there anywa…."_ Babs let out a grin as she grabbed the small sack and crawled back into her room. Still sitting on her desk, she opened it up and peeked inside. Inside, lay a bag with three cookies, and not just any cookies. They were her favorite kind from the bakery shop The Crumble: white chocolate macadamia.

"_How on earth did he know?" _She held up the bag and spun them around. They looked delicious.

"Hey Barb, you up?" Her dad knocked on the door. She shoved the cookies back into the brown bag.

"Yea, Dad, I'm up." She called through the door.

"Okay, was just checking." She heard his footsteps go back towards the kitchen. Barbara stared fondly at the bag.

"_That was so sweet of him. I wish he would have left a note or something." _ She allowed herself a grin. _"He is always so serious when he leaves—'stay inside Miss Gordon'—I don't think he know how much I enjoy him stopping by. I mean he probably has better things to do than to talk to some random girl." _She stopped to grab out her school uniform and walked into her bathroom.

"_It's as if he likes stopping by, like he cares about me."_ Barbara stopped to glance at herself in the mirror. She noticed a silly grin on her face. _"Honestly Babs, can you stay with one crush at a time?" _She caught herself and gasped. "I do not have a crush on Dick." She told her reflection. Her reflection seemed to smirk back. "I don't" she repeated. She grabbed out her comb and vigorously brushed her hair. "I don't have a crush on Robin either." She pointed at her reflection using her hairbrush.

She took her shower, changed into her school clothes, and walked out. Facing her bookcase, she grabbed a book off the shelf. "Having a crush on Robin would be like having a crush on a literary character. It's not like he really is a real person" She said as she grabbed a volume of _Sherlock Holmes_. She stared out the window again. _"He seemed real enough when he got you out of trouble and helped you back to your room." _Her conscious seemed to reply.

"Barb you coming?"

"Yea Dad, almost ready!" She yelled back. "I'm just having a fight with myself." She mumbled as she threw stuff into her book bag and grabbed her key to the door.

"Running behind huh?" He dad stood waiting by the door. He held out a granola bar to her. "Breakfast on the fly today." He said. She smiled and took it from him as she pushed on her shoes. "I packed you a lunch. No dessert though sorry. I already added it to the shopping list however." She smiled up at him.

"That's okay Dad." She patted her bag. Dessert had been provided for.

"_Maybe today has the potential to be a good day after all.'' _Her headache was completely gone.

At school, Barbara seemed to be in a good mood. Dick hoped that she found the cookies. He was worried that a pigeon or something would stop by and start eating them. However, his fears disappeared when lunch came around and he saw Barbara happily pull out a brown sack from her lunch bag. He smiled to himself and said nothing about it to her. Part of him really wanted to, but he didn't want her to get suspicious. They talked as usual and were about to head out to their tree when Dawn caught up to them.

"Hey Dick, I'm stealing Barb from you." He and Barbara exchanged a glance.

"What for?" She asked. Dawn gave her a look and Barbara instantly knew. She had been avoiding Dawn the past few days; she really didn't want to talk about the discussion they had. Looking back at Dick she tried to smile. "I'll see you in English." She walked off with Dawn, leaving a slightly amused Dick to wonder what on earth was going on. He shook his head and continued walking out to the tree.

Barbara and Dawn walked into the school and looked for a place to talk. Most of the lounge areas were teaming with kids, so they opted for a corner right outside the doors to the gym.

"What now?" Barbara asked with dread. Dawn faced her with her hands on her hips.

"I want the second reason." Dawn ordered. Barbara bit her lip. She really hadn't thought one up yet. She stared around trying to dream something up fast. Nothing was coming. Dawn kept staring straight at her with her brown eyes.

"The second reason is . . .that . . . that . . . I like someone else." It rushed out before she could stop it. Dawn's mouth fell open and stayed that way as her eyes popped open.

"What?" She managed to squeak out. Barbara pursed her lips.

"_No going back now I guess. It's not too bad a cover. _Yes . . . ah, yes." She nodded. Dawn still looked stunned.

"Wait, wait, wait! Back up! What? When? Who? Why haven't you said anything?" She grabbed Babs by her shoulders.

"Well, because . . . my dad would freak . . . plus . . . you sometimes have a large mouth."

"I do not! Well, sometimes . . ." Dawn admitted.

"See? Exactly! _So far so good." _

"So who is he?" Dawn pried.

"Who? Oh, ah, he doesn't go to this school." Babs said quickly.

"Come on a name, please." Dawn begged.

"No way. Not yet." She said decidedly.

"A description? At least?" Barbara shook her head. Dawn groaned.

"Don't tell anyone okay?" Barbara ordered. "Especially, Dick." She insisted. Dawn's face grew into a look of understanding.

"Aww. You know he'll be crushed so you've been trying to let him down gently. That's why you were trying to avoid him." She said.

"What? N . . ." the words died on Barbara's lips. _"That's not what I want her to think, but I guess it kind of works. _Seriously, don't tell him or anyone okay?" Dawn made the motion of zipping her lips, but let out a squeal.

"This is so cool! You have to tell me everything and soon okay? Oh, my word I am about to die from excitement." Barbara shook her head as her blond friend babbled on as they walked down the hall.

* * *

**Random End Notes: **I believe it is now law that in every story I write, I have to have Alfred making cookies or have his cookies referenced. (I bet they taste delicious!

Alright tell me what you think. Advice, and (gentle) [be nice please! :}] criticism, would be appreciated. Or a haiku if you feel like one.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: **Thanks to everyone who has been reading and reviewing. You guys are awesome! I hope you are enjoying the ride!

**William Ice****: **Thanks so much. I'm flattered. Use the idea if you like! (I thought it was good, but I'm biased. :))

**jdcocoagirl****: **I'm glad you like how it is going. Thanks a ton.

**Danni-Phantom13: **Thanks! Glad you're still reading. :)

**Disclaimer: **Nobody has yet to give me the rights to any of these characters. It would make an awesome gift however.

**Remember: **_"This is thinking!"_

* * *

++++++++++Chapter Ten++++++++++

Now Dick was more confused than ever. While he did patrol, the rest of the school day's events rolled through his mind. _"What were Babs and Dawn talking about anyway? Babs said 'girl stuff' whatever that means. Babs seemed fine the rest of the day, but Dawn seemed almost giddy and. she kept looking over at me and seemed to talk to herself." _He landed on top of the library's roof. _"What is up anyway?" _He jumped off and kept going. _"Maybe Babs will be more willing to talk to Robin." _He quickly changed direction, hoping that Batman wouldn't order him to go else ware. _"He's going to find out sometime though."_ Pushing aside that thought, he swiftly made his way to the apartment complex. Looking down, her window was shut and her light was off. _"As it should be I guess." _He turned to leave, but then paused spotting something. Jumping down, he pulled a taped piece of paper off the outside of the window. He opened it up and read:

"**Robin, **

**If I'm not up, knock on the window. Please?**_"_

He grinned. He really shouldn't. It was a school night. He laid his gloved hand against the glass and then rapped twice. Nothing. He pulled his hand back. _"Once more and then I'll leave."_ He rapped once more and waited. He heard a noise. A flap from the blind was pulled down to reveal a pair of eyes. Babs quickly pulled open the blind and lifted up the window. She crawled on top of her desk and stuck her head out.

"Hey!" She said happily. "I was hoping that you would stop by." She pulled herself out more to sit next to him.

"Careful." He said as he reached out and steadied her as she crawled out. Barbara felt herself blush.

"I'm being careful." She replied as she adjusted herself better. She glanced over at him. There he was dressed in his usual garb, black and yellow cape. She looked away. It was like sitting in a dream. She swung her legs back and forth over the ledge. Mustering up her courage she spoke. "Thanks for the cookies. How did you know?" Robin shrugged.

"You go in there, like every week." He told her. Barbara looked stunned.

"Wait, you see me? Like in the daytime? When your not . . ." She trailed off.

"Not . . ?" He continued.

"Not Robin." She finished. He blinked.

"I'm always Robin." He insisted

"But . . ." She tried to think of how she wanted to put this. "But you aren't always dressed like that."

He gave a grin and let out a laugh. "I certainly hope not."

"So, when you're out not dressed like that you wouldn't be . . . I guess I just wondered if I have ever seen you." She mused.

"Probably. Definitely, now that I think about it." He said with certainty.

"So, where?" She demanded. Robin glanced at her.

"You're prying, you know that?" He said.

"I know." She sighed. "This is really just surreal. I feel like you only exist at night, so I might just be dreaming this all up."

"It would be an awful lot to dream up." He pointed out.

"Yea I know, but still. I guess I'm just curious."

"Nosy" He corrected.

"No, I really am just interested. Is it weird? Going around at night? How did it all get started?" She asked.

"You really expect me to tell you that?" He replied.

"No. You are probably as tight lipped as my Dad." Babs tapped her fingers against the cement ledge. "Hey what if . . . I mean how about you prove that you exists in the day to me?" She spoke suddenly.

"Wait, I have to prove I exist? What do you want me to do pinch you? You do realize that I can't just walk up to you." He told her.

"No, no just do something sometime so I realize that you're around in the day. Wow, that's confusing." She stopped talking. Robin looked confused too.

"So you want me to do 'something'" he did air quotes, "So that you realize it's me doing it. Like what?"

"I don't know. Like . . . I really don't know." She was silent again.

"Wow, you're helpful." He stated.

She almost reached over and slapped his arm. _"Whoa! Not Dick. Robin would probably not appreciate me slapping him." _ She quickly acted like she was just stretching. Robin stared up into the sky seeming to ponder her idea.

"Well, maybe I could figure out something. Might take more than just one night to think up though." He told her.

"Robin where are you?" Batman's voice came demanding though the communicator. Robin got up quickly at the sound of his voice. "You haven't checked in at all. Are you still on the south side?" He asked. Dick stole a look over at Babs. Turning his head away from her he whispered.

"One moment" Into the link. Barbara looked over as if she heard something.

"Do you have to go?" She asked sounding concerned.

"Yep, I'm about to be in trouble." He tried to sound lighthearted.

"For what?" She wanted to know.

"Leaving my route. Maybe I'll see you in the day sometime." He said mischievously. Barbara looked worried.

"Wow, I always thought that getting in trouble with my dad was the worst. Batman may top him though." She told him.

Robin grimaced. "Yea, probably." Without another word, he shot his rappelling gun straight up and was whisked away.

* * *

Robin landed as quietly as possible on the roof. Regardless, Batman heard it.

"Do I need to ask?" He questioned firmly.

"Can you accept that I'll tell you sometime?" Dick braced himself as he answered. Batman continued looking down at the street.

"For now." He said after a minuet. Robin let out a deep breath.

"_For now." _

Over the next few days, Dick kept trying to think of what he could do in the daytime to 'prove' to Barbara that Robin was a real person. "It should be easy, because Robin is me." He told himself as he worked on homework. He liked the idea that the challenge presented. It was out of the ordinary and had the potential of getting him in trouble. "I guess that means I like risk." He surmised as he grabbed his other textbook. Realizing that his mind was not on school work, he pulled out his phone and texted Barbara.

*Hey, what are you up to today?* A few minuets later he got a response.

*Going to lunch with Dawn in a ten minuets. She's bringing Chelsea which means 4 the first hour all we'll talk about is cheerleading. :( What about you?*

He paused and then texted back.

*Bummer. Going to be something with Bruce later. No fun either.*

Shutting his phone he tapped his fingers against the cover of his book. An idea fell into his head and grabbing a baseball cap and a pair of sunglasses, he acted quickly to put it into action.

Going to lunch with Dawn, meant going to the small sandwich shop a block over from the police station. Being since they were so close to headquarters, they were one of the last restaurants to still have outdoor seating. This made Dick's plan easier. Waiting half an hour, he existed the house, telling Alfred, he was going outside to 'walk around'. He didn't really think Alfred bought this for a second, but that was the kind of relationship they had. Alfred let him go without another word besides 'be careful'.

When he finally got outside the sandwich shop, he saw Barbara, Dawn, and Chelsea talking and eating. Well, technically Dawn and Chelsea were talking while Babs attempted to look interested. Dick ducked around the corner of the building and headed towards the back.

Babs starred down at her club sandwich trying to think of a way to steer the conversation away from celebrity hairstyles. She didn't mind listening but after a while, she could only take it for so long.

"So what are you going to do for the rest of the day Chelsea?" She interrupted the other girls conversation. The black haired girl looked up from her phone.

"Josh and I are supposed to go to the mall for a bit. I really need another pair of high heels." She explained. Barbara nodded as Chelsea took another bite of her sandwich.

"You are so lucky," Dawn spoke up, "Josh is so cute." Chelsea glowed and gave a smile.

"Yea, he's cool." She answered back.

Babs rolled her eyes. Next to cheerleading, boys were one of the worst topics.

"Too bad we all can't be that lucky, right Barb?" Dawn said pointedly causing Chelsea to raise an eyebrow.

"Sure." Barbara said while glaring at her friend. Dawn quickly took the hint.

"I have nothing fun to do after words, my parents have some sort of science conference so I have to stay home and watch my little brother." Dawn groaned. "I think I'm going to write a song about rebelling from my parents. Granted, I would get in trouble for it. I need some space besides my garage to practice." She spun her straw around in her drink.

Chelsea pulled out her phone as it started beeping. She looked up and said "Oh, I've got to be going. Don't want to leave him waiting." She shoved her phone back into her purse. "Hey can I have my bill?" She asked a passing waiter. She turned back to Barbara and Dawn. "Thanks for the invite guys it was fun. We should do it again." She suggested. Dawn nodded and Babs managed a 'yea'. Chelsea paid her bill and threw on her sunglasses, and waved goodbye as she left and turned the corner.

"That wasn't bad see?' Dawn said. Barbara sighed as she leaned back in her chair.

"I suppose not. Are you going to finish that?" Babs asked. Dawn nodded to her sandwich.

"A few more bites and I'm ready to roll." Dawn replied picking up the sandwich. "So what are you doing the rest of the day?" She managed to get out with a full mouth.

"Studying I guess. I'll probably try to make something for dinner if my dad gets home at a reasonable time." Barbara told her. Dawn swallowed.

"You are always studying! You need to go more places or get a hobby or something." Dawn rambled before taking a drink.

"School is important to me." Barbara argued as she sat up. "We've had this conversation a million times."

"I know, I know." Dawn took another bite. Barbara leaned back in her chair again and crossed her arms. It was a pretty nice day in Gotham weather wise. People were out and about, the usual police sirens and car horns going off. _"Sometimes it almost seems like a normal city."_ She brushed a strand of red hair out of her face. She looked back to Dawn who was finishing up. She caught the eye of their server. "Can we get our bills please?" She asked. Dawn took a long sip of her drink.

"Ahh, now I'm full and ready for a nap. I'm going to need energy to watch the terror tonight." Dawn halfheartedly joked about her little brother. "It hasn't been so bad lately since Dad took away his super-soaker." Barbara grinned.

"He certainly is creative." She said.

Their server came back and handed Dawn her bill, Barbara held her hand out towards the kid for her own bill.

"Oh, ah, there was only one bill left for this table." He said.

Dawn looked at her bill and flipped it over. "It just has my meal on it." Their server, a lanky kid, looked confused.

"Hold on let me check." He went back in. Dawn and Barbara exchanged a glance. A few minuets he came out with the owner.

"Hello girls, you're Barbara Gordon right?" He asked. Barbara looked hesitantly.

"Yea." She said carefully.

"You don't have to pay for your meal then." The owner explained.

"But I ate something." She pointed out.

"No, what I mean is that someone paid for it already." He said.

"Who?" Barbara asked. The owner put a hand to his chin.

"Well, he was about. . ." He held out his hand raising it up and down trying to remember the kid's height. Barbara, realizing that he wasn't going to remember, asked.

"What did he look like?"

"Kind of average I guess. He was wearing a hat I think for . . . one of those teams. Maybe the . . . well I really don't know. Just came in the back way, paid and left. Guess I really didn't get a good look at him." He gave a quick laugh.

"Thanks anyway." Barbara said. _"I hope this guy never witnesses a crime or the police will be out of luck."_

The owner thanked them for stopping by and he and the waiter left. Barbara sat there thinking. _"Who?"_ It hit her like a lightening bolt. _"No way . . . it had to be though!" _ Her mind screamed. She looked back at Dawn who was grinning madly at her.

"Does that mean you mystery guy paid for yours? Oh, my word, that was so cute. I think I like him. Whoever he is. So do I get a name?" She asked excitedly.

"Oh, a yea, I might have been him." Barbara said finally.

"Might have been? Any other guys you want to fill me in on?" Dawn asked now intrigued.

"No definitely not." Babs said giving a laugh. Dawn stood up.

"You will tell me one day right?" She asked her friend.

"Possibly." Barbara replied as she swung her purse over her shoulder. Grabbing out her phone, she texted a quick message to her dad that she was leaving.

"Checking in with command?" Dawn joked. Barbara rolled her eyes, but nodded.

"See you at school Barb." Dawn said walking off. She left Barbara standing in the middle of the sidewalk looking up at the skyscrapers. She turned her head to stare around at the people moving quickly down the sidewalk. She smiled.

"_Where are you? You must be one of these people." _She headed for home.

* * *

Alright tell me what you think. Advice, and (gentle) [be nice please! :}] criticism, would be appreciated. Or a haiku if you feel like one.


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note: **My bad sub-plot reemerges here. I have warned you. I will be heading out of town for the rest of the week and do not foresee updating this in that time. Maybe if I get a chance, but don't count on it. So **don't panic** if I don't update until the beginning of next week. I won't leave you hanging forever. :)

**Rhia-of-Themyscira****: **Robin/DickxBabs is the best! Glad you enjoyed the chapter!

**William Ice****: **Thanks a whole bunch for the haiku. (They make me **HAPPY!**) :}

**Danni-Phantom13**: Glad to hear (you know, read) it. Thanks for the praise. He is sweet—I mean they're

sweet. (That gets tricky) llr. :D

**jdcocoagirl****: **I would say something, but it would give something away. :} Thanks a lot!

**Disclaimer: **If I owned any of these characters, I would probably not have to work as much as I do.

**Remember: **_This is thinking!_

* * *

++++++++Chapter Eleven++++++++

As much as Dick wanted to visit Barbara that night, he held off. Batman was already suspicious and, you might even say, irritated at him. A few days later, when Dick headed down to the cave after school, Bruce sat with headphones on in the chair in front of the computers listening intently. Dick undid his tie and waited for Bruce to get done.

"He's up to something again." Bruce kept his eyes shut as he spoke.

"Sir?" Dick guessed, "We haven't heard anything from him in a while." Dick pulled up a chair and ran his hands over the computer's keyboard.

"He's realized that he was too brash in his approach. We taught him that lesson. He's going to be more careful this time around."

"What did you find out?" Dick asked.

"Not much besides he is continuing on with his plan."

"Whatever that is." Dick muttered as he typed. "Something that will grab this city's attention. That could mean anything." He looked over at Bruce, whose eyes were on the large computer screen. He sighed. _"This is not going to be easy." _

Barbara awoke night after night at even the slightest noise. She never failed to get up and look out her window. _"Where is he?" _She tried not to be disappointed. Surely Robin had better things to do, unless maybe Batman grounded him or something. She bit her lip. _"That would kind of be my fault." _ She felt better when her father mentioned in passing that Batman and Robin had been spotted somewhere recently. _"Then why hasn't he stopped by?" _ She shut her school book and watched as the sun set out her window.

The next night she suddenly woke up. Sitting up in bed, she listened again; there was a knock at her window. A knock at her window! She threw the covers off, pulled open the shades, and lifted the blinds. She grinned happily as she opened the window and climbed out.

"Hey, Robin, where have you been?" She asked.

"That would be a really long list." She rolled her eyes at his joke.

"You know what I mean."

"Busy. Just everyday, normal, Gotham busy." He replied.

"That was you at the sub shop wasn't it?" She asked. He cocked his head to the side.

"Was it?" He answered back. Barbara let out a frustrated huff.

"Come on. Do you think I saw you?" She asked excitedly. He shook his head.

"You were too busy talking to the blond pink haired girl and black haired one." He said with a smile.

"That would be my friend Dawn and one of her cheerleading buddies, Chelsea. How did you know I was there?"

"You are not that hard to follow, especially on a busy day in Gotham." He explained.

"You were following me? Argh! Where were you?" She demanded.

"Nope. I did what you ask. You don't get any more." He grinned at her. She glared back at him with an annoyed expression, but it melted in a smile. _"How on earth does he do it?" _They both stared at each other for a minuet. Barbara felt her face grow warm, and for some reason Robin seemed flustered too. He got up.

"Well, I better get going, before I get in trouble again. Goodnight Miss . . ."

" . . . Gordon and stay inside." She repeated from memory.

"Just make sure you do." He said. He gave a wave and jumped off. She watched as he left, shaking her head in wonder.

"_One day, I will figure it out you know. Whoever you are."_ She grinned to herself and climbed back inside.

The next day at school, Dick watched Barbara from afar. She caught him staring at her and gave him a smile. He returned it. She seemed to be doing okay. They talked like normal and went out to their tree, but something still seemed to be off and it was frustrating Dick to no end. She always seemed to be willing to talk to Robin, what was the problem on Dick Grayson's end? He kicked the heel of his shoe against the floor of the school and sighed. _"I don't know how much longer I can take this." _ He swung open his locker and grabbed whatever he needed out.

"Dick!" Someone called out his name. He spun around to see Dawn coming towards him.

"Hey Dawn, if you are looking for Barbara she is doing something in the library today." She stared at him for a second.

"What? No I actually was going to ask you something." She continued. He stared up at the clock.

"Make it quick, I have to go . . ." He didn't mean to sound rude, but he was already running late.

"Oh, that's right. You have your mathlete thing" She spoke cutting him off. "Okay, well I am trying to write and article for the school paper, and I was going to ask Barbara but she's been acting odd. I think it has something to do with that guy she likes, but I was hoping . . ." Everything else Dawn said didn't even register in his mind.

"_That guy she likes!? What guy she likes!? _ Wait what guy she likes?" He asked trying to be calm. Dawn froze and turned a pinkish color that matched the strands in her hair. Her hand flew up to her mouth.

"She is going to kill me. I wasn't supposed to tell anyone." Dawn's eyes were huge. Dick tried to remain indifferent.

"She won't kill you. I had no idea." He said as evenly as possible, trying desperately to keep his voice under control.

Dawn, seeing how calm he took the news, decided there was no harm in telling him.

"Yea, well she told me . . . a while ago I guess. She won't give me a name or anything, but she told me that he goes to a different school. I sooo want to meet him though. You don't have any ideas who it is do you?" She asked. Dick was quiet.

"_I can't believe Babs wouldn't tell me. Besides she's not supposed to like someone else, she's supposed to like . . . me." _Dick was silent for another minute. "No, I can't really think of anyone." He said after a minuet. Dawn looked disappointed.

"Oh, well, she'll tell me eventually. I do really want to meet him though. He was so sweet a few days ago when he paid for her lunch secretly when she and I went out to lunch. I bet he is really cute." Dawn waited for Dick to respond.

"_Paid for her lunch? Robin did that. Wait Babs likes Robin? That's silly; he's not a real person, he's me! She couldn't like him more than me could she?"_ His mind flashed back to all those time they talked after he got her home that one night with the thugs. _"It was Robin who got her out of danger, Robin who got her cookies, Robin who. . ."_ Dick swallowed. All those things he did because he liked her were put in Robin's favor not Dick Grayson's.

"Ah, are you okay?" Dawn spoke up watching his face. Dick looked back at Dawn and faked a smile.

"Fine, just going to be late. I'll see you later." He said.

"Cool. Oh, and don't tell Barb I spilled the beans would you?" She begged. He managed a smile.

"Sure." He walked away quickly in a complete daze.

As soon as he and Batman split up that night, Robin made his was to the east side.

_She doesn't like Robin more than me." _He argued with himself. _"There is no way." _He paused on a rooftop to catch his breath. _"I will just swing by and really try to see if she is acts differently than she would if I was just Dick." _He made it to her window in no time flat. He knocked on the glass. She was there in a heartbeat. Opening up the window, she crawled on top of her desk and stuck her head out.

"Hello Robin." She greeted him.

"Good evening Miss Gordon." He said. She grinned and looked back at her alarm clock.

"More like good morning." She corrected. He shrugged.

"You know you can call me Barbara right? Or even Babs if you want." She offered. Dick swallowed. That would not be a good idea. It was too familiar a name, and he didn't want to seem like he had been saying it for practically all his life.

"Okay then, Barbara." He tried to say it like he had never said the name before. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Is it hard to say or something?"

"No." He answered quickly. She smiled and he couldn't help but smile back. _"That's the problem Babs, I know you too well and every time you smile I have to smile back. I can't help it. Even when I'm Robin, can't help but be Dick around you." _

"_Why do I always get butterflies when he's sitting outside my window? Probably because he reminds me of Dick –if Dick ran around in a cape and jumped off buildings." _She smiled at the thought and continued staring at Robin. "Can I ask you something?" She spoke up.

"Sure, but I can't guarantee I will answer it." He replied.

"It's not one of my nosy questions; I just want to know what it is like to fly."

"To fly?" Robin repeated. Barbara nodded and said.

"Yea, well I have a friend who could fly. Well, he considered it flying. Not like Superman flying but . . . I'm confusing you." She stopped talking.

"Kind of." He lied. He knew exactly what she was talking about. Once, when she asked him what was his favorite part of having been an acrobat was, he had told her it was being able to fly: flying above all those people. It seemed like a different lifetime ago. _"Maybe because it was."_ He tried not to let a sad expression cross his face. She didn't seem to notice any difference.

"You know, whatever you call it. When you jump off building and stuff."

"It's more like gliding." He corrected. She rolled her eyes. "Yes, I know what you mean. Its fun I guess. Although, 'fun' is an odd word to use in this profession." He clarified.

"He, my friend, always acted like it was the most wonderful thing in the world." She added wistfully resting her chin on her arms that lay on the window's edge.

An idea ran threw Dick's head and he couldn't get it out. Standing up, he offered her his hand. She looked at it and looked up at him.

"One time. There and back okay?" He offered. Barbara's eyes grew wide with delight.

"Hold on a second." She pulled her head back inside and reappeared with a green sweater.

"_If Bruce finds out he will kill me, but for some reason, the risk is worth taking." _Robin grinned as she pulled herself out. She zipped up her vest over her t-shirt, a wide grin on her face.

"Ready?" He held out his arms and she wrapped hers around him. They were lifted on the roof of the apartment in second.

"Which direction do you want to go?" He asked. She looked eagerly in all directions her red hair getting tossed in the wind.

"That way, across the street to the other roof of the apartments." She answered back pointing. He couldn't help but grin as he threw his grappling hook across. He gave it a tug. It was stuck firm.

"Ready? Try not to scream or anything. You'll wake up half the neighborhood." He joked. She nodded, a huge smile still on her face. "Now hold on tightly. Ready?" He asked once more.

"Wait." She took a deep breath. "Okay, go ahead." Her grip around his waist was almost painfully tight.

"And here we go." They stepped off the roof together and swung gracefully over the beat up road in back of the apartments. Barbara let out a small squeal of delight as she looked down at all the cars and garbage cans on the street and thought of how small they looked. In a second, it was over. They had made it to the other side.

She didn't say anything for a second. She then exploded with emotion.

"That was so cool! You are so lucky that you get to do that every night! It's like whoosh and you're away quicker than a flash!" She spun around. Dick couldn't help but grin. She was so happy and Babs looked especially pretty when she was happy.

"Ready to go back?" He said. She spun around.

"No! That was so cool, and then it will be over." She lamented.

"Well, you can't stay here." He pointed out. "And I have to be getting back." She sighed.

"Okay" She slumped her shoulders as she walked back over to his side. He threw the hook over once more.

"Ready?" She sighed again, but grinned and nodded. They stepped off. It was a rush of wind and sounds as they safely landed back on the roof of her apartment.

"Nothing I ever do will be cooler than that." She stated.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it." He said as they walked over the roof and glanced down to where the window ledge was. She took one good last look around at the city's skyline before joining him. "Ready?" He asked. She stared over to where he stood.

"Yep." She smiled back and walked over. "I have got to get one of those hooks."

They laughed as he carefully lowered them to the window. Inches before their feet would touch the ledge, Barbara's grip slipped. Instinctively, Robin grabbed her and pulled her close to him as they landed on the ledge. Barbara blushed as her face landed against his neck. Nothing else at that moment seemed to exist in the world.

"Thanks." Barbara whispered, still against him.

"You're welcome." He muttered back enjoying that fact that her arms were still around him. They pulled back slightly just so that they could see each others faces. Both of them were flushed.

"Everyone should get a chance to try that." She practically whispered. He grinned.

"I'm just glad that you did." Barbara nodded and closed her eyes trying to remember every second of the night for future memory. At this point, Dick couldn't help himself. He leaned over and touched his nose to hers. Her green eyes fluttered open, a smile on her face. Without another word, they both leaned forward.

It was the softest, barest brush of a kiss that it could be. Neither of them could believe that it was happening.

Suddenly the sound of the top blot being unlocked snapped Barbara out of her dreamlike trance. She pulled back from him and turned her head quickly around.

"Oh, my word!" In panic she turned back, but Robin was already gone. No where to be seen. Crawling back inside, she heard the sounds of each lock being undone. She looked up and realized that she had left her bedroom door open. Her door led straight to the hall, which led straight to the front door. Hearing the last lock undone, she threw herself through the window, jumped onto her bed, and pulled the covers over her head.

Even though she could have been in major trouble, and her heart was pounding like it was going to burst, she couldn't stop the large grin that came to her face.

* * *

Alright tell me what you think. Can't wait to hear it! Advice, and (gentle) [be nice please! :}] criticism, would be appreciated. Or a haiku if you feel like one.


	12. Chapter 12

*Fanfare* I have returned! Thanks for holding on!

**William Ice****: **Thanks a ton for reading! (I did have a nice trip. Thanks!)

**kaittybee****: **They are stinking cute aren't they?

**AnonymousInternetNinja****: **Who seriously isn't busy? Thanks for stopping by! (P.S. The panda picture you have is hilarious!)

**Guest: **AHHHHH! I am! :)

**jdcocoagirl****: **You are almost creepy good at predicting stuff you know that? ;)

**Danni-Phantom13****: **I think that any girl would jump at the chance to fly with Robin. (that might just be me though. :}) *Insert girlish sigh*

**Rhia-of-Themyscira****: **I know! They are sooo cute. *More girlish sighing*

**Remember** "_This is thinking!"_

**Disclaimer: **I will put this as plainly as possible. I DO NOT OWN THESE CHARACTERS! (This is painfully obvious *sobbing*.)

**READ ON!**

* * *

++++++++Chapter Twelve++++++++

For the rest of patrol, Robin tried to keep his emotions under control. He was pretty sure that Bruce could tell something was wrong and that, whatever it was, it wasn't related to their work. Bruce, being Bruce, could be counted on to not bring it up. For once, Dick was grateful that Bruce wouldn't touch emotional discussions with a ten foot pole.

Upon arriving back at the cave, Bruce mumbled something about something he needed to do and quickly left after he changed out of the cowl. Dick stood there, still as Robin, staring back at his masked reflection in the mirror.

He sighed heavily and placed his hands against the cold counter in front of the sink. The night had been the exact opposite of how he had wanted it to go. _"I wanted to see if she liked Robin, not help confirm it!" _He thought angrily to himself. _"Who could blame her for liking him better than me? He gets to visit her at night, teach her to fly . . . what does Richard Grayson have to compete with that? I mean I'm her best friend and all that, I'm good at math and other things, but . . ." _Dick kept looking at Robin staring back at him.

"I really don't want to fight you for her." He told his reflection. He could have sworn that Robin smirked back at him. Dick tore off his domino mask and threw it into the sink. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes.

He was Dick once more.

The next day as Alfred drove him to school, the British butler kept glancing at Dick through the rearview mirror.

"Is everything alright Master Richard?" Dick didn't even glance up from his phone as Alfred talked to him.

"Sure, why not?" It was said in a sarcastic manner that Alfred didn't miss as he pulled up to the school.

"Master Richard," Alfred began in a tone Dick was familiar with.

"I'll be okay Alfred, really." Dick said getting out. _"Maybe in a few years." _He shut the door and walked slowly up to the school.

Walking over to his locker, he spun in the familiar combination.

"Hey!" a voice said beside him. He pulled his head out and saw Barbara.

"Hey." He tried to sound enthusiastic. She continued smiling at him. "Anything new?" He dared to ask. She bit her lip, and shook her head.

"Nope." She responded. He slammed his locker, hard. She gave a start of surprise and stared at him.

"Sorry." He apologized with a fake smile. She looked different today for some reason. Maybe it was the smile. Every time he looked at her, she seemed to be smiling.

Even other kids seemed to notice.

"Hey Grayson, what is up with Gordon? She is acting like she just one the lottery or something." Vincent mentioned to him before their geometry glass started. Dick shrugged as he took his seat in the middle trying to appear nonchalant.

It was true though. She practically seemed to be glowing with an unearthly sort of radiance and it irritated him.

"_I've never seen Babs act this way." _He thought to himself. _"Well, that's because you've never kissed her." _Dick ground his teeth together._ This is silly! I'm jealous over my own alter ego!" _

He glanced back up at his teacher, not that he was paying attention at all. He didn't pay attention to any other teachers either for the rest of the day.

Thus, twice completely blanking on answers, five times of having teacher repeat the questions, three times getting hit in the head playing dodge ball, and one forgotten project later, he walked back to the car completely defeated. The concern on Alfred's face was evident as Dick climbed in. The ride back to Wayne Manor was dead silent.

Dick got out without a word and walked in to the house. He ran up the flights of stairs as fast as he could and threw himself on his bed as the door closed behind him. He laid face down against his bedspread for several minuets. He finally rolled on his back staring up at the white ceiling. He sat up and looked around at the huge room.

Some days, he couldn't believe that this whole space was his. He used to joke with Alfred that he could host a whole party in here. He didn't mind though. There was plenty of space to tumble around and walk on his hands –funny how he felt like doing neither today. He fell back against his bed. Turning his head to one side, he stared at the only picture on his nightstand. Scooping it up, he stared down at it. It was an old newspaper clipping of his family when they were in the circus.

When he first came to Wayne Manor, he had no pictures of his family whatsoever. Somehow, Bruce was able to find one from some foreign newspaper where the circus had stopped years ago. Dick couldn't have been more than five. He really didn't even remember it being taken. He was pictured standing with one foot on each of his parents shoulders. They looked happy.

He loved that picture: he hated that picture.

He set it back down and rolled over on his side. A knock came to his door. A firm heavy knock. He let out a groan. It was too heavy to be Alfred's.

"Can I come in?" Bruce's voice came from behind the door.

"Do I have a choice?" Dick said in that general direction. The knob turned slightly. Noticing that it wasn't locked, Bruce turned it all the way and opened the door. He glanced at Dick lying on his bed, school bag thrown on the floor and him, still in his school uniform, minus the annoying tie. Bruce came in and shut the door. He walked over and sat next to Dick who was still on his back.

"Can I ask?" He asked.

"Don't expect me to answer." Dick replied with his eyes shut. He heard Bruce let out a sigh.

"Well, you'll have to tell me something. Alfred ordered me to come up here. He's in one of his moods." At this, Dick had to smile.

"_Even Batman won't disobey Alfred when he's in a mood." _Opening his eyes, he said. "I can't tell you because then you will be mad at me." Bruce raised an eyebrow.

"What did you do?" He finally asked hesitantly.

"See that's the problem." Dick sat up talking. "'I' didn't do anything. 'I' never do anything." Bruce looked confused.

"Anything I can . . ?" He offered.

"No." Dick broke in frustrated. "Seriously, nothing you can do. Nothing I can even do at this point." They sat there in silence.

"Well, okay." Bruce slowly got up. He started back at the young man. "Dick, you know I would help if I could right?" Dick nodded after a few second.

"Yea." He muttered. Bruce looked like he didn't completely believe him. He gave Dick a small nod and left the room closing the door quietly as he left. Dick rolled onto his stomach again.

In the next moment, he had made a decision: he needed to put some space between Robin and Barbara Gordon.

It was an easy enough task most days. Dick made sure over the next few weeks that he didn't take the east side of the city on patrol—less temptation that way, so as not to stop by.

The one time he did, he almost, almost, caved in and woke her. He was following up on a car chase that led him to the east side. Once it was over, he found himself staring down her street, and as much his head told him to leave. His heart won the fight. He quietly landed on the window ledge. A note was taped to the window. It looked ancient. It was faded and wrinkly, like it had been rained on and dried. He carefully took it off the window. The ink of her pen had run slightly and faded. He could barely make it out.

*Hey, where have you been?*

He folded it back up and placed it against the window. _"Sorry Babs, it's not really a good idea."_

He monitored Barbara closely at school. Her glow seemed to wear off and she seemed back to normal. But by the time the second week rolled in, she seemed odd again.

"Hey Barb? How's it going?" Dawn came up from behind her chewing on a wad of gum. Barbara forced a smile.

"Pretty good." She answered. Dawn looked unconvinced.

"Ah, huh." She responded back to her. They stared at each other. "Come on what is it?" Dawn prodded.

"Really don't want to talk about this." Babs said picking up her books off her desk.

"Yea, you don't really want to talk about anything to me much lately." Dawn said further. Babs said nothing. "So it's about your secret guy." She guessed.

"Why is it we are always having relationship discussions?" Barbara lamented.

"Because you're in a relationship now, maybe?" Dawn suggested. Barbara rolled her eyes. "Are you guys having trouble? Did your dad find out or something?"

"No, it's just complicated." She huffed. _"Like the fact that he hasn't been by in forever. Okay, maybe I'm blowing this out of proportion. He's probably busy. This is a busy town and you have to understand that. He's probably a little freaked too, like I was. It's not every day you kiss someone on your window ledge."_

"Uh, Barb?" She snapped her head up to look at Dawn.

"Yes?" She replied. Dawn scrunched up her face.

"Can I ask you something? And I promise thatIwon'tbringitupagain." She inputted quickly. Barbara sighed.

"What? Hurry up or we are going to be late." She said glancing at the clock.

"Remind me again why you won't go out with Dick?" Dawn said. Babs groaned.

"Because it is a silly idea." She dismissed.

"But I think he does like you." Dawn insisted.

"Even if he did it wouldn't matter. He's Dick Grayson." Barbara shut her locker and started walking. Dawn followed.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Dawn said catching up to her. Barbara bit her lip and looked around.

"Look, Dick and I are best friends. Fine. But trying to make it anything more than that is pointless. I'm not stupid you know. He'll grow up and probably go to some school in Europe, I'll never see him again, and he'll find someone better." She said bitterly.

"Barbara, now you're being silly. We're young! You shouldn't be thinking depressing stuff like that. You've basically decided what he is going to do the rest of his life and I bet you guys have never once even talked about it. Am I right?" Babs starred down at the floor and nodded but didn't speak. "See we are making progress. You're letting the 'Bruce Wayne' thing bring you down and you shouldn't." Dawn insisted.

"How can I just forget it though? Did I ever tell you this? About what happened last year, when we were supposed to go to the zoo?"

*Flashback*

Barbara picked up her phone as it rang that morning. She smiled as a name popped up on the screen.

"Hey Dick, ready for today?"

"Um. Yea." He said slowly.

"What? Is something wrong?" Babs sat down on her bed.

"You could say that."

"Can you not go today? Dick, we planned this . . ." She started saying.

". . . weeks ago. I know. Nice and early so that I would have nothing planned for that day already." Dick recited.

"So what happened?" She demanded.

"I'm kind of not in Gotham anymore." She heard the despair in his voice.

"You're not in Gotham? Where on earth are you?" She demanded to know.

"Ah, I wouldn't even know how to pronounce it, plus I can't speak French."

"Can't speak . . . where are you?" She demanded again.

"France" She heard him cringe waiting for her response.

"France? How did you get to France?!" She bellowed through the phone.

"It's kind of blurry still. I blame jet lag. Bruce wanted to do something I guess. We left last night. I knew that you would be asleep already or I would have called you. . . . Babs . . . . ? Babs . . . .? Are you still there?"

"Yes." She gritted her teeth.

"I'm sorry. Are you really mad?" He asked carefully.

"Not at you." She said pointedly.

"Sorry." He repeated.

"Never mind I'll go with someone else." She hung up before he had a chance to utter another word.

*End of Flashback*

"Hey, you did go with someone else. Me. You seemed mad and you wouldn't tell me why." Dawn said as they left their class room and walked down the hall.

"See how quickly it can happen? One moment he was here, next he was thousands of miles away!" Barbara exclaimed.

Dawn bit her lip and appeared to be thinking. "I still think that's a silly reason." She said again.

"I'm trying to be realistic." Barbara said decidedly and they weaved through the crowds in the hallway.

"Well that's not romantic. Hey, how about this?" Dawn pulled her to a stop. The look on Barbara's face looked as if she would disagree with whatever her friend was about to say.

"Don't argue with me until I'm done talking. Dick is the kind of guy who, you once told me, wouldn't bother with dating any of the girls here because there was no point to it right? Why waste his time?" Dawn stopped to take a breath. "However, he apparently doesn't think it's a waste of time to spend it with you." She pointed her finger at Barbara who didn't say anything. "So why not go for it? Especially, if thing aren't working out with . . . whatever his name is."

"We should go eat." Barbara said walking quicker down the hall towards the cafeteria.

"You cannot keep avoiding this! One day, you'll be an old lady in a nursing home telling a tragic story about your soul mate and how you lost him because you never had the guts to tell him that you liked him. That's the kind of thing that can haunt you forever Barb." Dawn said. Barbara turned and stared at her blankly.

"You watch too many soap operas. You know that?"

"They are always on." Dawn shrugged with her response. "But seriously, that's it isn't it? Barbara Gordon, who can debate any kid in this school about anything and never is afraid to speak her mind, is scared to tell a boy that she likes him!"

"No I'm not." Babs defended herself. Dawn started laughing.

"Ah, yea you are." Dawn said in between giggles. Barbara scrunched up her face looking mad and looked around the entrance to the cafeteria.

"No, I am not!" She hissed. Dawn's face broke into a grin.

"Good. Because here he comes." Barbara went sheet white and froze as she heard Dick's voice.

"Hey guys. I never thought Mr. Hughes was going to stop tal . . . are you okay Babs?" He asked.

"I'm fine." She said turning to keep her back to him. She took a deep breath and prayed that color was returning to her face. Dawn gave a grin.

"Well, I better get some food." Dawn practically skipped off as Barbara glared at her.

"Really though." Dick said coming in front of her. _"Okay, now it's time for Dick Grayson to start doing something." _

"Dick, just . . ." She stared at him, Dawn's words replaying in her head. _"You kind of need to make a decision here Barbara. Just two weeks, ago you kissed Robin without a second thought and here you've known Dick forever." _That's when she realized it. _"When you think about it, that's why you kissed him isn't it? He reminded you so much like Dick that it gave you, what you thought, would be your one chance with Dick."_

"This is going to take longer than our lunch break isn't it?" Dick broke in running a hand through his hair.

"Yea, I think so." She said simply. They stared at each other again.

"So, we should go on a walk after school then. How about it?" He offered. She found herself grinning at him. How did she ever resist those blue sparkling eyes?

"Okay, sure." She felt herself calming down.

"Do you want to go out to our tree?" He offered.

"Is there time left?" Barbara asked glancing at her watch. She frowned. "We better just eat and talk later." She suggested. They both nodded and smiled at each other. Suddenly, everything felt back to normal between them.

* * *

Alright tell me what you think. Advice, and (gentle) [be nice please! :}] criticism, would be appreciated. Or a haiku if you feel like one.


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note: **I really have nothing to say here except thanks a bunch for reading and reviewing! Hope you like what is next!

**AnonymousInternetNinja****: **Glad you are liking it!

**jdcocoagirl****: **I really liked having Dick argue with himself. I thought it helped bring out the turmoil inside. [At least that was what I am going for:)]

**William Ice: **I won't! (I personally can't stand stories that are never finished!)

**Rhia-of-Themyscira**: Maybe. We'll see. ;)

**Danni-Phantom13: **Soap operas—never ever watched one, but they are great for the cliché.

**FeyWings****: **Oh, wow thanks! *shuffles feet while blushing* Means a lot to me!

**kaittybee****: **I could seriously talk about how cute they are all day.

**Fan:** Thanks for the compliment!

**Disclaimer**: *Doing Sgt. Schultz impression* "I own nuthing! Nuuuuthing!"

**Reminder: **"_This is thinking!"_

* * *

++++++++Chapter Thirteen++++++++

After school, Barbara and Dick walked lazily away from the school property and headed for one of the local parks.

"Did you text your dad already?" He asked. She nodded.

"Yup. He said that it was okay."

"I'm honored he trusts me." He said in a mock serious voice. Barbara playfully slapped his arm and couldn't help but laugh. They entered the park and took one of the well traveled paths down near the pond. Finally, upon finding an empty bench they both sat down.

"So . . ." Dick started to say, ". . . hold on a second." He stopped suddenly. Barbara watched him as he got up and quickly sprinted over to an ice cream cart. She smiled as in a few second later he came back holding two chocolate ice cream cones.

"Thanks." She said as she took the cone from him.

"You haven't changed your favorite flavor or anything have you?"

"Nope, chocolate is good enough for me. Thanks" She smiled back at him as she took a lick. "You never need an excuse to get ice cream don't you?" He grinned and shook his head as he started eating. They enjoyed the silence as they watched the world go by until both their cones were gone. Barbara stretched out her arms.

"Now I feel sleepy."

"Well, don't fall asleep yet. We haven't talked about anything yet." Dick said his voice becoming serious.

"Oh." Barbara brushed a strand of hair out of her face and took a breath. "Alright." She turned her body so that it was facing him.

"Oh, uh, am I going first?" Dick said suddenly becoming nervous.

"I guess I can." She spoke up hesitantly.

"No, no that's alright." He took a deep breath. "Okay, well . . ." and then it all came out.

"I guess I'm just confused, why have you been acting like a stranger? Did I do something?" A hurt expression crossed his face as he spoke.

"What? No, of course not Dick. It really is all my fault. I just . . . got thrown for a loop and had to sort it all out. And then once I did, I was scared of the answer so I kind of hid." She said making a face.

"Why didn't you think you could tell me? I was worried." He said honestly

"I'm sorry. It's just, that the problem sort of involved you." She said it carefully.

"So I was the problem." Dick clarified.

"No!" Barbara insisted grabbing his hand. "Not in that way." Dick raised an eyebrow.

"_What is she saying?"_

"_Oh, my word if Dawn made me invent this whole thing up I'll kill her. _It's just I . . ." Barbara tried to say.

"_Is there really any chance that she actually likes me? Please tell me that I haven't just been inventing these feeling between us for all this time." _Dick thought loudly.

"I mean, we've been best friends since the day we met right?" She asked even though she knew the answer. He nodded as her green eyes met his blue ones. "And we always will be?" Dick grinned and squeezed her hand.

"Or course Babs. Nothing will ever change that." He said positively. Barbara nodded and blushed as she realized that they had moved closer together. A few dog walkers passed by them and they paused to watch as the people passed by.

"_Come on Dick, it's now or never." _He cleared his throat. "So, just tell me then." Barbara slowly turned back to face him again. She knew her face was red, but felt slightly better about it when she noted that he was too.

"Well," She ducked her head down so that she wasn't staring directly at him. Her hair fell back into her face.

"Don't hide now." He said softly using his other hand to brush it back behind her ear. They both froze as their eyes met again while his hand was still against her face.

Suddenly, they were the only two people in the world. Keeping his hand in place, Dick slowly leaned forward as Babs leaned closer towards him. He had just barely felt her breath on his face . . . when his phone when off.

They awkwardly broke apart.

"_You have got to be kidding me!" _Dick grabbed out his phone and answered. "Yea, Alfred? What? Now? Really? Can he wait? Ugh. No. No. Fine." He hung up and turned back to her and sighed. "Sorry. Ah, keep going."

"Don't you have to leave?" She said, now feeling extremely shy.

It can wait." He said firmly. _"For once in my life, Robin is taking the backseat. Just this once." _Barbara looked unsure.

"It didn't sound like it could."

"No, it's fine." He reassured her.

"I don't want you to get in trouble." She replied. Dick smiled.

"I'm not going to get in trouble." He lied.

"No, seriously, you can go. It's alright. We can talk later." She practically ordered him.

"Do you mean that? I mean it's not like a 'talk later' which means 'talk never'?" He clarified. She nodded.

"Hey, I've got an idea. The museum's new display opening is tomorrow night. I have to go with Bruce of course; do you want to tag along?" He asked hopefully. She visibly gulped.

"Oh, a no. Sorry I told my dad that I would hang out at the station with him. We were going to get some dinner after that." She said it while not looking at him.

"Oh." He said simply. "Okay. Well, I'll see you Monday okay?" She nodded again. "Do I need to walk with you somewhere or make sure . . .?"

"I'll be fine. Go ahead." She tried to smile. He nodded and then walked quickly in the direction of the park exist.

As soon as he was out of sight Barbara slumped against the wood park bench. _"You are such a scaredy cat! Why on earth did you let something silly like a phone call interrupt you? You should have just kissed him." _ She starred out into the park. Everyone out and about seemed happy and cheerful and for some reason, it irritated her. _"Why is it always just me?" _

The next morning, Barbara stared lazily out the window of her father's grey Impala as they drove down to the station.

"It was nice of you to come with me today Barb, but you didn't have to." He mentioned to her.

"It's alright dad, I told you I was planning on coming sometime soon."

"I just figured you were going to do something with Dick. You two haven't spent a Saturday together in a while." He mentioned.

"It's fine. I told him I already told you that I was coming today." She explained. Gordon smiled at the road.

"_Caught you Barb. _So he did want to do something?" Gordon asked knowingly. Barbara seemed to realize her misstep.

"Even if we made plans, something would have come up on his end. I just know it."

"Not always though." Gordon commented. Barbara shrugged and turned her attention back to the window. Gordon took a quick glance in her direction and hid a smile.

He hadn't been fooled lately by how she was acting, and he had about decided what it concerned. Barbara was a very sensible, levelheaded, intelligent, and stubborn girl. Sooner or later she was going to realize, what he himself already knew for the most part: she liked Dick Grayson. He was never foolish enough to bring it up; his daughter would emphatically deny any such idea whatsoever. He was wondering what would happen when she finally noticed. Now he knew, but had no idea what to do about it. His daughter was quick on defense; she would never admit it.

"_She can screw her mouth shut just as tight as I can."_ He thought, somewhat proudly. He pulled into the station and parked in a row lined with police cars.

Barbara grabbed her backpack out of the backseat and stared up at the large brick building.

"_This is going to be a long day."_

Dick Grayson starred upwards at the inside of the museums dome. There was so much space in there, was there anyway to get up there and get out of this entire evening?

Lowering his head, he looked back at the crowd of people gathered for the museum display opening. Various people passed in front of him, some which he recognized, and some he did not. He smiled politely at each of them however and said hello in return.

He stopped to rotate his left shoulder. _"Man, I hit that wall harder than I thought." _He moved his neck from side to side trying to disperse the pain. The gang that they ran into Saturday night had been a hard one, add before that the drug bust that they had dispersed earlier in the day, and Dick was fairly worn out. Now he was stuck in a room of well dressed people, some wearing too much perfume in his opinion, in an irritating suit. _"And I wonder why Babs didn't want to come" _he thought sarcastically. _"Why didn't she come?_ He thought seriously. _"Okay, my timing is lousy. Probably after you almost kiss someone is an awkward time to sort of, in a way, ask them out." _He mused. He sighed again. _"If only that phone call wouldn't have happened." _

"You doing okay?" Bruce's voice floated from up behind him.

"You know me." Dick said, "I love these things."

They shared a secret smile, which no one else could detect. Dick caught the barest of an eye roll I Bruce's expression. Then, the main speaker started talking, and announced Bruce's name. Bruce gave Dick one final nod and a wink then headed up to the front.

Dick watched him as he walked away. _"Some days, I really don't know which of them is more of the act: Bruce or Batman."_

Mercifully the evening faded into a quiet night.

* * *

**Random End Note: **Just realized that this chapter is terribly short compared to the others. Sorry about that. :) More good stuff to come!

Alright tell me what you think. Advice, and (gentle) [be nice please! :}] criticism, would be appreciated. Or a haiku if you feel like one.


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note: **Chapter 14 already! We go from the smallest chapter to the largest so far! This thing is coming to a close soon, (sad face) so how about I get to the adventure part of this story? [**Side note**: The plot here is kind of sketchy soooo, work with me people. Please?]

**Rhia-of-Themyscira****: **Hmmmm . . . . maybe. . . .:}

**AnonymousInternetNinja****: **Me too!

**jdcocoagirl****: **I liked throwing the Commissioner back in there. We haven't seen him in a while.

**kaittybee****: **Glad you are enjoying this!

**Danni-Phantom13****: **(Laughing) Ahhh, I love Alfred.

**Disclaimer: **Checking . . . . checking . . . checking . . .nope. Still own nothing. One of these days . . .

**Remember: **_"This is thinking!"_

* * *

++++++++Chapter Fourteen++++++++

Monday, the alarm went off too early in Dick's opinion. However, if he didn't get up, he always could rely on his second alarm system.

"Master Dick time to get up for school." Alfred said appearing to Dick to be way too cheerful. Alfred pulled back the blinds and surveyed the expansive backyard of the mansion. "It looks to be a lovely day sir."

"Fantastic" Dick mumbled as he rolled out of bed stretching out his arms and giving a yawn.

"I do say both of you made it back at quite a reasonable time last night." Alfred remarked fluffing a pillow.

"Yea, it wasn't too bad of a night. Still oddly quiet though, on a whole." Dick said craning his neck from side to side.

"Well, I'm sure both of you will figure it out in no time." Alfred answered confidently.

"I'm not so sure about that. We've been at it for a while." Dick replied taking his phone off his night stand. He had been pondering texting Barbara but he still had no idea what to say to her. The whole situation was awkward. What do you say to someone who you almost kissed the last time you saw them? He glanced over at Alfred who was already straightening the bed. _"No way am I asking him."_ Alfred turned around to face him.

"You better hurry up or you are going to be late." He instructed. "Oh and by the way I'm sending your suit to the cleaner so that you will have it in time for the math competition this weekend. Dick spun around and groaned.

"I completely forgot it! Shoot. I better start focusing on that." Alfred raised an eyebrow.

"I think that would be a good idea. It's going to be at the grand hotel is it not? Quite a large venue." Alfred commented. Dick nodded absentmindedly. Alfred clapped his hands. "Go on or you won't have any time for breakfast."

Barbara had just about reached the school doors when she stopped to triple checked that her green folder with her report in it was still her backpack. It was. Staring up at the school, she took a breath and tried to mentally prepare herself for the day. A lot had happened over the weekend.

"Barb!" She turned to see Dawn coming up, now sporting blue highlights in her hair.

"Hey" She offered.

"So what happened?" Barbara looked confused. "Over the weekend? With Dick?" Dawn clarified.

"Oh, ah, nothing much." Barbara said turning her face to look out over the yard trying to hide a blush.

"Nothing much? Is that the story?" Dawn said a small smile escaping her mouth. Barbara twitched her lips uncertainly. "Come on!" Her friend begged.

"Really it was uneventful." Barbara said hoping that this would be a sufficient answer to stop any more questions from Dawn.

"Then why are you as red as a tomato?" Her friend questioned. Barbara brought a hand up to her face.

"Calm down it's not that bad. Just spill." Dawn assured her.

"It was really awkward." Barbara admitted. Dawn huffed.

"I'm sure you were the one making it so. You need to lighten up about this." Dawn said placing a hand on her shoulder.

"I can't! I really can't! Alright? I tried, but the words won't come out of my mouth." Barbara said laying her hand against her forehead. "As hard as I try, I can never tell Dick to his face that I like him." Dawn gasped. Barbara's head shot up. "Do not just tell me I said that out loud." She demanded, but from the look on Dawn's face she knew that she had.

"Ha! See I knew it. This is progress." Dawn said proudly.

"It's no good if I can't get the words out in front of him! I couldn't even . . ." Barbara thought back to that failed kiss.

Dawn stood watching her.

"I think that you'll be fine now. The only problem in the way was your own head's denial." Dawn said bumping her on the shoulder as soon as the bell rang. Barbara looked around.

There was something else she needed to do as well. Something that she found out Saturday: something that she wasn't quite sure how to handle. She needed to find Dick as soon as possible.

They entered the school together. Barbara glanced around. _"Where is he anyway?"_

Dick suddenly burst though the school door flew over his locker and spun in the combination before either of them had a chance to say something. Barbara's mind went blank.

"Hey Dick, running late?" She managed to say.

"I needed my second alarm today." He said as Babs nodded knowingly. "How are you?" That really wasn't what he wanted to say, but it came out naturally.

"Fine." She answered. He frowned a bit. She didn't blush or anything.

"_I guess she's chosen to act like it never happened." _He said inwardly.

"Come on! We are going to be late!" Dawn yelled as she rushed away. Dick and Babs exchanged a nod and headed off.

Lunch finally came, although Barbara had been hungry for the past hour already, but she had to find Dick. She finally spotted him. He noticed her and came over.

"Ready to go out to our tree? _Maybe we can talk about stuff." _He added in his head. She bit her lip.

"We should stay inside today. I think some one said something about spotting a wasp nest out there." Dick blinked.

"Oh, really? Okay." He shuffled his feet. _"What is with the lame excuse Babs? _That's fine I really need to look over some material for mathlete stuff. They both sat down at the table. She smiled as she stared at the pile of books.

"I was hoping that that was what it was for. I didn't want to think that you were just reading that stuff for fun." She said smirking.

"Well, not today anyway." He joked.

"So how was the museum thing?" She asked although she could reasonably guess the answer.

"Let's see. Long, stuffy, boring, you know the usual . . . how was time with your d. . ."  
"I saw in this morning's paper that Bruce donated enough money so that they could open the display for free for the public for a few months." Barbara broke in saying. "That was nice."

"Yea, that's Bruce for you." Dick said oddly staring at her. She continued talking.

"He is kind of odd, one minuet his donating all this money and the next he's out . . . sorry I'll stop talking." She said quickly noting Dick's expression.

Bruce Wayne's life was one topic they tried not to discuss too much.

Dick cleared his throat.

"Do you want to go for another walk today?" They both stared at each other, knowing exactly what he was asking.

"Oh, ah . . . aren't you tired or something? You seem tired." She said. Dick raised an eyebrow.

"I do?" He questioned. She nodded.

"You should just go home and rest." She insisted while pushing around the potatoes on her plate.

"Okay." Dick replied now completely confused.

Dick walked along the edge of the road while waiting for Alfred to show up. All the thoughts from the day were swirling in his head. All of a sudden Barbara had become . . . overprotective. She had practically escorted him to each of his class and for some reason kept looking his way as if she was checking on him.

"Dick? What are you doing out here?" Barbara came marching over to him. He looked up.

"Uh, waiting for Alfred obviously." He didn't mean to sound perturbed at her, but seriously. . . .

"You shouldn't wait outside!" She chastised.

"Why not?" He answered. He was starting to get irritated and wasn't afraid to show it.

"You . . . you just shouldn't. Especially, holding all those books." She said it in a tone of voice that made it sound like holding them was dangerous. Dick shot her a look.

"_What is going on?"_ He swallowed hard to keep the words from being actually spoken. They were standing there staring at each other when Alfred pulled up.

"Oh, good, Alfred's here." She said sounding relieved.

"Hello Miss Gordon." Alfred called through the window to her.

"Hello, Mr. Pennyworth."

"How was your school day?" He asked politely.

"Just fine. Definitely ready to go home. Bye Dick!" She scampered off. Dick just stood there.

"Are you going to get in Master Dick?" Alfred asked since the boy appeared to be frozen in place.

"Yea sure." Dick muttered. He opened the door still staring off as he watched Barbara get picked up by her dad.

"Is something wrong?" Alfred asked concerned.

"Most likely. It's my life after all." He said shortly as he put his books in the back and shut the door. He stared out the window as Alfred dove away wondering when these days would ever be normal.

Robin stood to the left of Batman as they starred down at the city below.

"Alright, we all know the drill by now. How about you take the east side of town?"

"Can I take the west side instead?" Robin asked. Batman turned to face him.

"At first you only wanted to take the east side, now I can't get you within an inch of there." He commented. Robin sighed.

"Let's not talk about it. Fine I'll go." He gave in. They separated.

Robin quickly went down the normal route; however he came to a dead stop when his feet feel onto the roof tops of a familiar street.

"_Just go the other way, just keep moving. I could just take a look though. That wouldn't hurt anything. NO! No. Just keep moving. Move on."_ He jumped over to the next street. The night had been fairly quiet. Most nights had been fairly quiet: funny how only in Gotham that that would be unnerving. He grabbed out his pair of binoculars and scanned the area.

"All is quiet so far Batman." He radioed over.

Something moved suddenly across the street. A girl, Barbara to be specific was walking back and forth staring up into the night sky.

Robin stood up. _"Is she crazy? What is she doing!" _He jumped across and prepared to jump down next to her. He paused. _"What should I do? What should I say? The last time we saw each other we kissed. Why is, it that no matter when I'm Robin around her, there is some reason I can't stay in character?" _ It was a pointless questioned since he knew the answer.

He jumped down and waited for her to stop pacing and turn around. She walked a few more feet and then spun around to begin walking around the other way. Her eyes flew open.

"Robin? Where on earth have you been?" She questioned.

"Where have I been? Why are you out here? I thought you learned your lesson?"He demanded.

"I'm sorry but it's not like you are in the phone book. I've been out here for the past two nights and you never showed up." Robin couldn't hide his anger.

"TWO nights? Are you crazy? You are going to get hurt!" He thundered. Babs looked a bit sheepish for a second, but then set her jaw.

"I'm sorry but I needed your help and I had no other idea on how to get your attention!" She said fiercely.

"My help for what? _Is she going to tell me what's up?" _He tried to breathe at a normal pace as he tired to think of what she was going to say.

"It's actually a friend of mine. He's in danger; at least I think he is." She explained. Robin glanced around the street.

"We can't talk out in the open like this come on." He instructed. She followed Robin down a vacant ally. "So what is going on?" He tried to say it in a reasonable tone. Babs took a breath.

"It's a friend of mine. Richard Grayson. Do you know who that is?" She asked.

"_Do I know who that is? _Do I know who that is?" He repeated out loud. "Yes I know who that is." He confirmed.

"Well, sorry. I didn't know." She snapped back.

"So what's his problem? _I would really like to know._" He couldn't help but think.

"Okay, well I was with my dad at the police station and while he was in a meeting I was looking around on his computer and I ran across a file with a list of people in the city who have been threatened in the last few months. His name was on it." She said carefully. Dick froze, but controlled face.

"Okay."

"Okay?" Barbara looked annoyed. "I also found with it a garbled voice file with the most recent threat against him. Hold on, I have it here." She started digging in her pocket. "It's a corrupted file or whatever the word is for it. You can't hear very much. No one has taken the time to clean it up yet."

"_I've never been threatened. What is she talking about?"_ Dick took in a slow breath as he thought it over.

"Here." She held out a micro chip. Robin took it slowly.

"How did you get this?" He asked. Barbara looked sheepish again.

"I downloaded the recording and well, made a copy. Don't say anything okay? I know. Bad behavior for a policeman's daughter. A friend well taught me. Well, he taught me how to download stuff so I just adapted it." She explained. If Dick wouldn't have been so concerned, he would have been proud.

"So your dad knows about it?" He asked trying to understand better. Barbara huffed.

"I asked him about it once before and he said that Richard gets threatened all the time and nothing comes of it, so he is not too concerned especially with all the other stuff going on right now . Dick does live with Bruce Wayne so I'm sure he is at least safe at home. I tried to really watch him today at school. I think he was annoyed by me." Barbara bit her lip as she finished. She waited for Robin to say something. Dick chose his words carefully.

"Have you told him? This . . . Robert guy. . . I mean" He said intentionally messing up own name.

"Richard" She corrected, "And no I haven't. It would probably freak him out. I don't think he's the type of kid who could defend himself if need be."

A squeak seemed to come from Robin's direction as Dick fought back a defense of himself from reaching his lips.

"But you said he lived with Bruce Wayne. He should be okay though." Dick was trying to think double time.

"I know, but I'm worried. Maybe it's because I never listened to an actual recorded threat that the police came across. It's pretty scary." She wrapped her arms around her body. "I need you to take it to Batman and convince him to convince my dad that it's important. Someone needs to be watching him." She said emphatically. Robin starred at the small chip in his hand. He cleared his throat. A million questions swirled through his mind.

"So does Bruce Wayne know about these threats against his ward?" He asked carefully rotating the chip in his hand. Barbara shrugged.

"I think so, but I have no idea how seriously he takes them. Dicks never mentioned anything to me, so I think that they don't tell him." She said seriously. They stared at each other. "So will you?" She bit her lip.

"I'll look into it. Now go back inside." He ordered.

"What if I need you again? Should I stand out here at a certain time or . . .?"

"No! Do not stand out here! You're a target, probably as much as your friend is." He said trying to reason with her.

"Then how do I get a hold of you?" She asked insistently. Robin paused and thought about it.

"_Bruce will kill me if he finds out, but I'm pretty much in trouble if he finds out about any of this. But at this moment I'm pretty mad at him so we would be even." _

He pulled out a small device from his utility built and handed it to her. "If it's an emergency-an emergency" he repeated, "put this in your ear and tap the button. Don't be alarmed if I don't answer right away. It's a two way radio communicator. It only goes between me and you. Don't lose it." Barbara clutched it to her chest and nodded. "Back inside now." He ordered.

He watched as she walked back into the apartment door and waited until her face appeared in her window. He gave her a nod and quickly left. As soon as he got higher up he radioed Batman.

"Batman? Batman?" The line was quiet.

Robin huffed frustrated. "Robin to the batcave." He waited.

"I'm sorry he has returned for the night." Said a well disguised voice that belonged to Alfred.

"Then I'm coming back to base." Robin frustratedly shut off the com and headed in the direction of the cave.

* * *

**Random End Note: **Confused? I think it gets better in the next chapter, so hang on! You'll see where I'm going. (Hopefully)

Alright tell me what you think. Advice, and (gentle) [be nice please! :}] criticism, would be appreciated. Or a haiku if you feel like one.


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Note: 1.) **If for some reason, I suddenly appear not to be updating. Do not Panic! My internet is acting weird, and won't work sometimes. The problem is being worked on, and hopefully will be fixed soon. I just wanted to give you guys a heads up. **2.) **Shhhh! Do you hear that? . . . . . . . it sounds like. . . my Bad sub-plot coming back! You have been warned!

**Rhia-of-Themyscira****: ** Not really. I just need her to have one for something. :( (Now you give me these ideas! My brain is whirling.)

**Danni-Phantom13****: **See? I knew I would confuse people. (I knew it.) Hopefully we can clear this up.

**jdcocoagirl****: **I'm getting good at that aren't I? My writing is so random.

**William Ice****: **Technical problems are the worst. :( (Thanks for the praise and although it's not true, I'm giddy.)

**Vampiress-Haylee****: **It's a fun little world. :D

**Disclaimer: **It should be obvious by my terrible sub-plot that I do not own any of the characters.

**Remember: **_This is thinking!"_

* * *

++++++++Chapter Fifteen++++++++

"Where is he?" Dick demanded as he entered the cave. Alfred stood in front of the computer in his bedtime robe.

"He came back suddenly and headed out again." He replied calmly. Dick turned to the location where the batsuit hung. It was in place. Alfred noticed his confusion. "Not out out, just out."

"Bruce doesn't go 'out'." Dick argued. "Not like for a gallon of milk anyways." Alfred raised an eyebrow.

"Is there a problem?" He asked.

"There's about to be." Dick said angrily. Alfred looked alarmed.

"Would you like something to drink?" He offered.

Dick checked the time. It was almost three a.m. "I think I'm good. Just tell me when he gets back."

"You do have school tomorrow Master Dick. I cannot let you stay up forever." Alfred informed him. Dick crossed his arms and tried to calm himself down by taking a deep breath.

"Fine just let me do a few things first." Dick said plopping down at the computer.

"You have a half hour." Alfred instructed. "I will be back for you then." He turned and went off before Dick could argue back.

Dick grabbed the chip Barbara gave him and inserted it into the computer. He grabbed the headphones and played it. The voice was gruff and harsh as is crackled on the recoding. The first few minuets were nothing but static, but then a voice came back on clearly.

". . .the possibility of kidnapping Richard Grayson- the Prince of Gotham's own son for all purposes- is just too delicious to pass up . . ." the voice became jumbled and distorted again.

Dick sat their quietly. It was creepy as Babs had said.

He looked up at the clock. _"Half an hour? I can clean this up in less than that." _

When he did the results were chilling. After a bit of time, he played it in its entirety:

"So listen, this is all we got. He's been interested in the attention it will grab. It's an old story but everyone in Gotham knows it. Bruce Wayne adopts some random kid and it's the feel good story of the year. Think of the attention it would grab, the possibility of kidnapping Richard Grayson- the Prince of Gotham's own son for all purposes- is just too delicious to pass up. The whole city would be captivated in a heartbeat. Think of the demands we could make, and all we have to do is follow the plan that Sir gave us. So don't be late." The voice cut out.

Dick lay back against the chair stunned.

"I'm the plan? I'm the target to help Sir grab this city's attention?" He whispered softly. He took off the headphones and closed his eyes. This was not good.

Something bumped him and Dick's eyes came open slowly. He was still in the cave. He tried to get comfortable in the chair, only to find that he wasn't in it anymore.

"Easy Dick, it's okay. You fell asleep." Dick realized that Bruce was carrying him upstairs. He hadn't done that since he was ten.

"That must be why my neck hurts." He managed to say. He saw Bruce grin.

"Yea, it's not a comfortable chair for sleeping. Let me tell you." He said hitting a button. The hidden door came open to reveal the interior of Wayne Manor. "Alfred said you wanted to talk to me about something."

"Yea. You're lucky I'm tired, because I can't remember all of it at the moment." Dick said, his eyes started closing again.

"Well, you can tell me tomorrow before school, okay? Okay? Dick?" Bruce smiled. The boy was sound asleep.

Dick woke the next morning to his alarm clock. He promptly smacked it with his hand causing it to fall on the floor. He rolled over. _"Wait." _He sat straight up.

He grabbed his school uniform out of his dresser where Alfred faithfully put it after he threw it on the floor after school each day. Alfred had yet to break Dick of the habit.

Dick splashed some water in his face trying to wake up more. _". . . and also not look like a total wreck." _

His hair was absolutely everywhere, and he definitely looked tired.

After doing the best he could, he ran down the hall and practically jumped down all the stairs landing with a perfect 'thud' at the bottom. He heard Alfred give a shout as he slid into the kitchen on the marble floors.

"So much energy. I'm surprise after last night." Alfred commented dryly. Dick yawned as he plopped down into his seat.

"Me too." He stared down at the other end of the table. "Where's Bruce?"

"Out. Something came up and he had to go to the office." Alfred explained as he served him. Dick folded his arms across his chest.

"I hate when business gets in the way of our business."

"Ah, yes. You two were supposed to 'talk' about something. He mentioned that." Alfred said. "Well I suppose you can do it after you get back from school. Unless you wish to tell me about it." Dick shook his head.

"No way. There are two problems with that. One, once I tell you, you will tell him: giving him time to think up a defense. Two, you will somehow, find someway, to make me less angry when I talk to him and I want to be angry, so no thank you." Dick said firmly. Alfred shrugged.

"If that is how you want it." He walked back to the kitchen leaving Dick to eat.

School that day was still weird. Barbara was doing her best to look out for him and, since he knew why, Dick tried to not be annoyed or make a big deal out of it. He just hoped it would all be over soon. That final ring of the bell could not have come fast enough and as soon as it did he was out the door closely followed by Babs making sure that he got to the car safely. He gave her a wave and pulled out his phone.

"He is home correct?" Dick said as Alfred pulled away. Alfred glanced over at him.

"Master Bruce? Yes he is, and just so you know, I find this whole thing troubling. It's not like you to be this way." Alfred said. Dick managed a small smile.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures." He put simply. Alfred didn't respond.

As they entered Wayne Manor, Bruce was no where immediately to be seen. Dick headed down to the cave with Alfred in tow. Sure enough Bruce was down there, still dressed in his suit. He looked up as the sounds of their footsteps reverberated across the cave walls.

"How was school?" He asked.

"Long." Dick said shortly. "Now can we talk?"

"Okay." He said pushing back from the table as Dick came and stood in front of the computer. Bruce and Alfred exchanged a look. Alfred gave a small shrug.

Dick hovered over the computer for a few seconds pulling up the recording. He held the headset out to Bruce who took it carefully. As soon as they were on his head, Dick hit play.

He sat back and crossed his arms watching Bruce's reaction. Not surprisingly, there was very little until the end, his eyes became harder. He stared at Dick for a full minute.

"Where did you get this?" He asked gravely.

"Does it matter?" Dick countered. Alfred stood watching them both looking very concerned. Bruce's expression was set.

"Oh, better question. Since this isn't the first time something like this has been planned: WHY HAVE I NEVER BEEN TOLD ABOUT IT!" Dick's voice bounced around the room. Alfred looked alarmed. Bruce pursed his lips but never broke Dick's gaze.

"You have a lot on your plate and I didn't want you to be constantly looking over your shoulder." Bruce said in an annoyingly calm voice.

"Somebody needs to be!" Dick argued.

"**I **was. Gordon always let me know when they ran across something and I acted accordingly. However, I must confess that this one has not been brought to my attention." Bruce mused running his hand across his chin.

"That's because I had to clean most of the conversation up. No one at the department had time or any reason to clean it up." Dick informed him.

"Gordon had the information all the time and didn't even know it." Bruce paused in thought. "How did you get it Richard?" Bruce asked firmly using his full name. Dick hesitated.. He wasn't going to spill about Barbara of course, so he made something up.

"I was spending time getting into all the recordings that the police have. I was working on a hunch that they must have something useful on those tapes from previous recorded conversations of various gangs. They have eavesdropped into enough of them. That one peaked my interest since most of it was missing."

He waited a second. Bruce seemed to buy it.

"I'm sorry. What are we talking about?" Alfred broke in.

"I found out what 'Sir's' plan is. He is going to kidnap some kid." Dick explained still glaring at Bruce.

"Oh, that is good then, I presume." Alfred said hesitatingly. "Because we can . . . prevent it?"

"Sure is. Guess who he is targeting? **Me**." At this Dick turned his head in time to see Alfred go ghost white. Alfred opened his mouth and then closed it. Dick turned his attention back to Bruce.

"You should have told me! Here I was thinking that at least Dick Grayson was fairly safe! Wrong again! Think of all those people I'm around every day! What about them? One wrong placed gun shot and they could be dead instead of me!"

"I think that we all need to take a deep breath and . . ." Alfred tried desperately to calm the situation down.

"Nothing has happened so far. That it what threats are . . . just threats." The calmness in Bruce's voice only irritated Dick more.

"For how long have I been being threatened? How many times?" Dick demanded.

"It doesn't matter. Nothing has ever happened. Nothing ever will." Bruce said. Dick shook his head.

"You know you can't promise that. Anybody I am around is in potential danger too!"

Dick froze as a though raced into his mind. _"Oh, my word, Babs. Here I was thinking that as Robin I was keeping you safe only to find out that I was putting you in danger every day just by being Dick Grayson." _Dick felt his knees wobble. Bruce reached over to steady him.

"See this is why I didn't tell you."

"No." Dick argued. "I'm fine." He took a breath. "So what are we going to do? We know this threat **is **real." Bruce was quiet for a minuet.

"We go to the police that's what we do." Alfred broke in. "We can. . ."

"No." Bruce opened his eyes. "First we need to find which gang was chosen. They are obviously on their best behavior so that we don't catch on. Second, they obviously have a plan for this. If they are planning to try to grab you at school, they would have tried already. What are they waiting for?" Bruce's question lay unanswered.

Bruce spun around to face the computer and started typing. Dick leaned against the wall and watched as he did so.

"_What are they waiting for? They know where I'll be every week day. How much more do they need to know? They something to grab the public's attention. Maybe school isn't public enough. Now that I think about it taking me from school would be tricky."_ Dick pulled off his tie that he had forgotten he was still wearing and through it up on a table next to his pile of books. _"Ugh, I still have that studying to do for the . . . _math competition." He spoke out loud.

"What?" Bruce turned around.

"The mathlete thing at the grand hotel this weekend. It's been announced for months now who is going."

"Large crowds, multiple exists, several places to hide—it sounds like a good place to plan a kidnapping." Bruce said turning back to face the computer. Dick leaned over his chair to watch him.

"See. There have been multiple calls to the police this last month for suspicious activities around the hotel. No arrests though." He recited.

"Photos?" Dick asked.

"Just a few blurry ones." Bruce pulled them up on screen. "Matching them up to anyone would take too long."

"So now we call the police?" They both looked up at Alfred when he spoke.

"If we did they would call the event off and we wouldn't catch anyone." Bruce pointed out.

"You are not seriously going to let it go on. Think of all those people!" Alfred said raising his voice slightly.

"They are not after just anyone, they're after Dick. Look here, in the past few months no member of the New Kings gang has been picked up on any charge whatsoever. From what I can tell, they are the only major Gotham gang that has fallen off the radar. We know the who, where, and when, which means that we have control over the situation". Bruce pointed out.

"I will state it again. I do not think that this is a good idea." Alfred said sternly.

"Dick is a trained professional Alfred, he'll be fine." Bruce said convincingly.

"No," Alfred countered, "Robin is a trained profession, Dick Grayson however is an . . .ah. . . ."

"Above average student with great math skills and underappreciated talents?" Dick offered trying to be lighthearted about the situation. Alfred ignored the comment.

"It is not safe and I will not allow it." The butler protested again.

"It will be fine. He can handle it. Right Dick?" Bruce asked. Both men turned to him.

"Yea sure." Dick said slowly not knowing what else to say. Bruce turned back to the computer. Alfred still looked unconvinced.

"We can start planning the ins and outs now. Which also mean I can't technically come since Batman will need to be there. Sorry Dick." Bruce added offhandedly.

"No that's fine. Catching bad guys is more important." He shrugged. "Wait, does that mean I can't help? You are going to need help!"

"Dick Grayson cannot help." Alfred said. "Dick Grayson will need to get out of there as soon as possible."

"So that Robin can help right?" Dick turned to Bruce asking.

"Assuming Alfred can get to this janitor's closet one level down and on the left three doors. He can be ready there with your stuff. If that way doesn't become blocked, you can make your way down there and come back up. If it does however . . ."

"Agh," Dick groaned, "I don't want to pretend to be the guy who doesn't know what to do in panic situations; the guy who is useless. People will think I'm an airhead." Bruce turned back to him.

"What exactly do you think I've been doing all this time?" He questioned. Dick grimaced.

"Touché. Sorry Bruce."

"I don't like this. I don't like this at all." Alfred muttered under his breath.

* * *

**Random End Notes: **Sooo, be honest are we still confused? I hope not. :) Thanks for reading!

Alright tell me what you think. Advice, and (gentle) [be nice please! :}] criticism, would be appreciated. Or a haiku if you feel like one.


	16. Chapter 16

**Author's Note: **I made it back to update again! (Yea!)

**Saint Ginger****: **Thank you! :)

**AnonymousInternetNinja****: **I stay up kind of late too. :} It's addictive.

**Danni-Phantom13: ***grin* Thanks a bunch.

**jdcocoagirl****: **A typo? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooo ooooooooooo! Thanks for pointing it out. Excuse me while I bang my head on a wall.

**Disclaimer: ** Have you seen my sub-plot? That is alone enough to prove that I do not own any of these characters.

**Remember: **_"This is thinking!"_

* * *

++++++++Chapter Sixteen++++++++

After much planning, information gathering, and rehearsing, Saturday finally came. Dick ran through the plan in his head as he got ready for the evening. The only thing that they really didn't know was the exact time. Would they try at the beginning? The end? Somewhere in the middle? There was just no telling. Bruce would be monitoring from the buildings in the area and would contact Alfred to give him a head start on calling the report in. _"So all I have to do is get out, get a floor down, and come back." _

He glanced back at his reflection and shrugged. _"Sounds simple enough." _A knock came to the door.

"Master Richard?"

"Come on in Alfred." Dick called. The English butler walked in, a worried expression on his face. He surveyed the boy. Shaking his head, he walked over and tugged various places on his suit.

"Alfred, Alfred! It's fine." Dick protested to no avail. Alfred finished by smoothing out the tops of his shoulders.

"Now you are fine." Alfred insisted. Dick looked at himself in the mirror.

"It looks exactly the same." Dick said exasperatedly.

"It's the small details that set you apart. Trust me you look much better." Alfred then sighed. "You have your communicator and your phone?"

"Already in my ear, and my phone is in my pocket." He recited.

"Is it charged?"

"Yes, it's charged Alfred. Try not to worry." Dick said grinning up at the older man.

"Part of my nature I suppose." He looked up at the clock. "I suppose we best be on our way. We would hate to be late." Dick took one more look in the mirror and ran a hand through his slicked back hair. This was going to be some night.

Gotham's Grand Hotel was decked out in its finest. All the fountains at the front had been cleaned out, lights had been put in all the shrubbery, and even the door man seemed friendlier.

After finding out where they were supposed to go, Alfred and Dick entered the largest space in the building; the gold room.

It was huge, spacious, and potentially overkill for a math competition, but things were done big among Gotham's elite. Alfred followed Dick as they weaved passed the rows of chair to make their way to the main stage and the back room.

"Richard!" A chubby kid waved at him from behind the curtain.

"That's Freddy." Dick whispered from Alfred. "Hey, Fred." He greeted the other kid.

"Ready to go?" The boy asked. Dick smiled at his enthusiasm.

"I think so." He replied.

"Cool, come on!" Fred said excitedly as he ducked behind the curtain again. As Dick walked forward, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"I shall be waiting for you downstairs Master Richard. You had better be there." Alfred whispered. Dick turned around and gave a grin that hid his own fear.

"I'll be there." He promised. Alfred took a deep breath and glanced around as people started trickling in.

"All right. Have a good competition, for as long as it lasts anyway." He whispered. Dick nodded and slipped past the blue curtain.

After being briefed on a few thing, and talking with some of the guys, the mathlete team members were giving sometime to do whatever with until the event started.

"Fifteen minutes and then all you guys need to be back here" Were the instructions.

Dick poked his head out and stared at the crowd. No one caught his attention; no one seemed out of place. It was just a bunch of well dressed Dads, Moms, Grandparents, and fighting siblings.

He walked out and wandered around the room staring out the large windows. Nothing suspicious there either. He wandered out into the lobby. People were milling about, checking in or out, just normal activities for a hotel.

Dick checked the time on his wristwatch. He still needed to check in with Bruce one final time before this whole thing got started. He spun around to head back to the ballroom when he bumped into someone.

"Sorry ah . . .Babs?" He stood there stunned for a second. He almost didn't recognize her. She was wearing a black dress and had her hair pined up. She looked . . . well . . . gorgeous. "Ah, hey." He rubbed the back of his neck. She smiled at him.

"Hi, I came to watch you." She explained. Dick kept a smile up, but inside he was panicking.

"_She is not supposed to be here! This is why I didn't invite her. . . I didn't invite her. She must think I'm the worst friend ever! _ Oh, Babs I'm sorry, I was going to invite you, but then I . . . got busy . . . and when I realized it I figured that you had already probably have plans so I . . ." His voice trailed off. Babs shook her head.

"It's fine silly. I knew you had been really busy, plus I haven't seen you compete in a while so. . ." She swung her arms ". . . here I am." She smiled over at him. Her face fell. "You're not happy."

"What? Of course I am." He looked around. _"What am I going to do? She cannot be here, when this thing goes down."_

"Are you nervous Dick? That's not like you." She asked concerned. He gave her a lopsided grin. "So do you think I could sit by Alfred and Bruce?" She asked.

"Oh, ah. Bruce couldn't make it and Alfred . . . saw somebody he knew. I don't know where he is at the moment." Dick answered looking around.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Barbara looked sympathetically. Dick shrugged.

"It's okay; I'm used to it by now." He replied. True, he was used to Bruce not being there. For one reason or another, he could never seem to make it. Usually, it was because of hero business, so Dick really couldn't complain.

"I'm sure he feels badly. My dad is always really sorry when he can't make it to my gymnastic meets, but usually it's because of police work so I can't really complain." Dick had to smile. Barbara and he were really more alike than she would ever know. 'Well, then I'm glad I came." She announced.

"Me too." Dick lied with a smile on his face.

"Do you want to show me where Alfred was sitting?"

"Oh, yea ah, come on." He grabbed her hand and led her into the room. Counting down the rows, he found the seat that Alfred was supposed to be in. "Yea, so any of these really." He turned back to face the stage. "Actually, if you could scoot one more over, I'll be able to see you better from up there." Her face showed a small blush.

"Okay." She sat down and looked around the room. "Wow there is a lot of people here. I'm glad my dad dropped me off when he did." Dick nodded agreeably. "Are you really okay Dick? You seem really quiet."

"Oh, just nerves I guess." He said trying to shake off his panic. Barbara shook her head.

"You'll be fine. You always do fine. You practically know everything, and I know it's not the crowd that is making you nervous. You're used to it. You'd rather be flying over them though." She said with a knowing grin.

Dick stared off into space. Sometimes when he closed his eyes he could still hear the ringmaster's voice. He opened his eyes back up. No need to focus on the past, when so much was happening in the present. He had to get his head ready for all that was about to happen.

"Yea, well, here I am now. Different stage, but still a performance." He said trying to sound positive. Babs gave an understanding smile. Abruptly, a kid walked out from behind the curtain and yelled Dick's name. Dick spun around.

"Dick we've only got three minutes so stop gabbing with your girlfriend and get back here!" The kid said rather loudly. Barbara watched as Dick flushed.

"Oh, ah, I gotta go . . ." Dick pointed off in the direction that the boy came from. ". . . back there. I'll see you . . . ah, bye." Barbara waved as Dick walked off. Mercifully, she was too amused by the situation to flush bright red herself.

"_Dick looks so cute when he's embarrassed." _She laughed to herself.

Dick attempted to regain his composure as he entered the back room. He had to call Batman. He ran to the bathroom and did a quick check. No one else was in there. _"Something has to be done now, Barbara is here maybe Alfred could . . ." _his phone suddenly rang. He fumbled around in his pockets; it wasn't his normal phone, which one was it? The communicator he gave Babs! He pulled it out form his pocket and replaced it with the one he already had in his ear. "What's wrong?" He asked quickly.

"Nothing, don't panic, I was just . . ." She began.  
"I told you . . ." He started to say.

"I know! I know! Okay? 'Emergencies only.' Well unfortunately, you don't have a non-emergency number!" She said exasperatedly. "Have you had a chance to show Batman the tape? I haven't seen you recently and my dad hasn't said anything about it to me." Dick put his hand to his face.

"Please tell me you haven't been standing outside again." He said dreading her answer.

"No I haven't." She insisted. "I've been being very good for your information. I'm in the lobby of the Grand Hotel; Dick is in a competition tonight so I'm here at the moment."

Dick had an epiphany. "You don't have to follow the poor guy around everywhere you know. I'm sure he'll be fine. He's probably tired of you shadowing him. Maybe you should give him some space. _Please Babs go home. It would make me feel better if you did._" He added silently.

"No I am not leaving. I haven't seen him compete in a while and besides practically no one is here to watch him." Barbara informed him. Dick looked at his watch. "So have you shown him the tape already?" She asked again.

"I'm still working on the tape. I'll try to show him soon okay? I got to go now. Lots of patrol still left to do." He tried to end the conversation quickly.

"Fine, but hurry please this is important." She said urgently.

"Okay. I'll try soon okay. It's kind of a busy city here." He said.

"I know. I'm sorry. Thanks." She paused. "Stay safe." She added. Dick smiled.

"You too." He said honestly.

"And stay inside!" She rushed to say and hung up before he could answer back. Dick had just managed to switch his communicators when Freddy opened the door.

"You ready Dick? I can't believe how calm you seem, I always get nervous." The boy said taking a deep breath. Dick managed a grin at the brown haired kid.

"Well, everyone gets a little nervous." He said. Freddy looked amazed.

"But not you Dick, you're always ready to go."

Dick took a deep breath. "Yep, that's me. I guess we better get out there. _At the moment this competition is the least of my worries." _

As the grandfather clock in the lobby struck the appropriate time, the speaker came up and announced each of the contestant's names. Dick was running completely on auto drive as he took his seat. Any movement in the crowd caught his eye, although it was hard to see specifics with the spotlights focused on the stage. He could still make out Barbara though.

She had not even realized that he put her as close as possible to an exit.

"_Just sit back and wait for it to happen, just go along with the show." _ He kept telling himself.

So he did, every question, every problem was answered perfectly. To any one paying attention, he looked completely calm and in control, internally, it was a different story.

Waiting for it, was the worst part, as much as he tried to anticipate it, he knew he was going to be caught off guard when it finally happened. How would they come in? When? From what direction? It really didn't matter.

He would be ready and Batman wouldn't be too far behind. Dick snapped back to what was going on. It was Fred's turn again. The boy stood up and walked over to the microphone, beads of sweat coming down the poor kids face. _"Come on Fred, you can do it!" _Dick mentally cheered. The crowd went silent as the question was given.

Promptly that silence was broken, as all the large glass windows on the opposite side of the room were shattered at once. Dick took in one deep breath as glanced over to find Barbara.

It was time for action.

* * *

**Random End Notes: **I have never been to any mathlete type thing ever. I have just realized that I am treating it like a spelling bee. :} So that could all be wrong. Oh, well. . .

Alright tell me what you think. Advice, and (gentle) [be nice please! :}] criticism, would be appreciated. Or a haiku if you feel like one.


	17. Chapter 17

**Author's Note: **I am late updating. (Bad me) Sorry. (Hope this chapter made it worth your wait!) Seventeen Chapters? I never thought I'd make it this far! It's been awhile so I'll mention it again: I cannot write action scenes which is the reason that they are short to non-existent.

**Disclaimer: **Once again. I own nuuuuthing.

**Remember: **_This is thinking!_

**Liza Cobbler****: **Thank you for the information. You can tell I did no research whatsoever. :) Thanks!

**Rhia-of-Themyscira****: **Jeopardy? I could have handled that. Oh, well. Knowledge for the future. Thanks!

**Danni-Phantom13: **I picture Fred as that Boy Scout from Disney's UP for some reason. Back story? Uh. . . . . none that I know of. I'll put it into the back of my mind and see what (if anything happens). Thanks for reading!

**jdcocoagirl****: **I always seem to give somebody something to worry about. :) Keeps things interesting. Thanks for reading along!

**blackprinses7****: **Yours is an honest review. This is my first 'big' story and I usually don't try to balance this many characters at once. Stuff is getting confusing near the end. (I knew it was.) I'm still a newbie and have far to go. Thanks for the advice and the praise! Hope you like the end!

* * *

++++++++Chapter Seventeen++++++++

Understandably, everyone in the room panicked.

Dick realized as soon as he saw Barbara's face that she had put the pieces together. They locked eyes and she mouthed his name.

Up to this point, Dick had thrown aside the idea of being Robin and was planning on just getting her out, but a guy sitting a row behind hers started immediately shoving people to the exit. Dick watched her as she was pushed out with a sea of people.

He dropped to the floor as gunshots rang out and quickly tumbled off the stage. He took a quick check of the path to the stairwell. It was clear so far, as everyone focused on getting out of the building entirely. He made a mad dash, flung open the door, and skidded down the stairwell rail in his dress shoes. He turned left and ran, quickly finding Alfred, who at the moment was holding the handle of a mop over a man now lying on the floor. Alfred looked up at him.

"I didn't quite know what to do." He spoke breathing heavily staring down at the thug. Dick looked on proudly.

"Way to go Alfred! We'll make a hero out of you yet." He exclaimed. Alfred put a hand against his chest.

"Thank you Master Dick, but I get quite enough excitement as a butler. Thank heavens that you made it down here, it sounds terrible up there, so you had better hurry." Alfred pulled open the janitor's closet. "Quickly." Alfred ordered. Dick Grayson disappeared and in a moment Robin was in his place.

"Thanks Alfred." He said handing him the duffle bag. "Once your outside see if you can find Barbara would you?"

"Miss Gordon?" Alfred looked puzzled. "I thought you intentionally didn't invite her."

"I did. She came anyway, so. . ."

"It was very nice of her and on any other day you would have been more appreciative." Alfred guessed. Robin nodded. "Well, off you go. Be safe." Alfred said as he walked quickly towards the exit. Robin rushed to get back upstairs.

Batman had already been busy and the police weren't doing to bad of a job either. Robin picked a spot and jumped in.

The perfectly clean and presentable ballroom was anything but that at the moment. The chairs had been scattered and tipped over, the tables that were there, were being used by the thugs as shields from the police bullets.

"_Not for long." _He grinned as he pulled a smoke bomb from his belt tossing it at them. Robin's communicator came on.

"Robin, some of the kids are still in the backroom; get them out." Batman ordered.

"Got it." He rushed behind the stage curtain and crept along the wall till he heard voices.

"This isn't going good." One guy complained in a squeaky voice.

"Just calm down. It's not a complete waste; we can still grab the kid if we can find him."

"We had better hurry then. The police are here! Batman is here! Everyone is he. . ." The other thug argued.

"Just calm down! The rest of the guys will keep them busy, find that kid." The other one commanded. "Most of the kids dashed back here, and the guys we had at the exits back here have kept them all in." Their voices got closer, and Robin got ready to spring.

The men never knew what hit them; they both went down cold. He quickly tied them up and crept along the hallway.

Robin's scanner picked up a large group of people off in one of the side rooms. He silently made his way over to the entrance. A large man with a gun stood in the doorway; he could see some of the guys from the math team inside. A harsh sounding man was talking.

"Listen kids, nothing, is going to happen to you unless you don't help us out."

"We don't know where he is!" One of the boys protested. "Actually, we don't know where some of the other guys are as well."

"Safe hopefully." Robin heard Freddy say.

"Quiet!" The man's voice rang through the room. "Then I guess we'll just have to take all of you. Start taking them out!" Robin charged the man at the door.

"Hey!" The man let out a yell. After dodging a few bullets, Robin took the man down, and proceeded into the room. As he entered everyone turned to stare at him. He took a quick scan of where the bad guys were and threw another smoke bomb.

Everyone in the room started coughing as Robin went to work. With most everyone's vision impaired, he made quick work of them, leaving just him and the kids.

"Hey! You're Robin!" Freddy said pointing at him once the smoke cleared.

"Yep, now come on I have to get you out." He said quickly.

"But we don't know where some of the other guys are . . ." Another kid said.

"Yea, and Dick, they seemed to be after Dick." Fred said in a panic.

"I'll get to work on it, now come on." Robin ordered.

"We can't go out the back way. There's a guy out there with a gun!" One of the other boys said.

"Stay behind me and wait till I tell you to come." Robin crouched down by the door at the back of the room and slowly opened it. It turned out to be a door on the side of the hotel that led to the parking lot.

There was a mass of people out there being held back by a police blockade. The dark Gotham night was lit up by the landscaping lights and police lights. The path was clear no thugs were insight. The police had already taken them out or they were scared away. "Okay, go, go!" He motioned them forward. A police officer ran over when he saw the kids pour out.

"Hey the rest of the kids are over here! Are you guys alright?" The officer knelt down to get a better look at the kids coming out.

"We think so." One of them answered. The rest agreed.

"Are the rest of the guys out here?" One of the younger boys asked.

"Where did the guy with the gun go?" All the guys talked at once.

"Okay, slow down and follow me. It was smart of you to get out that way." The officer told them.

"It wasn't us." Freddy said. "Robin got us out." He spun around to point, but of course, Robin was already gone.

Back inside, Robin decided to check around again to see if any other members of the team were still inside. _"I didn't see Aaron, Michael, or Grant, but they could be outside already." _A small noise emanated from around the corner. Robin froze.

It was dim in places back there, but he made out the back of someone. He grabbed them. A girl screamed. He recognized it instantly.

"Barbara!" He yelled at her. He quickly let her go as she spun to face him in the dim light.

"Have you found Dick?" She asked. "He's not outside; no one knows where he is. I can't believe this is happening. What if they have him? I am never going to forgive myself." She groaned.

"He's probably safe somewhere, now get out! It's not safe here." As if to make his point, more gunshots were heard.

"Not until I find Dick." She insisted. Robin shook his head.

"You are leaving now." He picked her up before she could say another word and ran over to a door on the opposite side of the building. He opened the door to reveal the back ally.

"Put me down now! Don't make me . . ." She yelled at him while she tried to squirm out of his grip. He set her down as he shot his rappel gun up towards the roof. He grabbed her again.

"Hold on." He commanded. They shot up quickly, getting onto the top of the hotel. He shot his rappel gun again to the hotel across the street.

"I am not going. I am finding Dick" Barbara said fiercely as Robin tested the line.

"Fine, then I'll leave you on top of this building." Robin threatened. Babs glared at him weighing her options.

"Fine!" She gave in throwing her hands up and stalking over to him. They swung over across the street and onto the roof of the other hotel.

"Good now stay here." He said as he walked back over to the edge. _"I'm leaving you on top of __this__ building."_

"Someone needs to fine him!" She argued running to stand beside him on the edge.

"He's fine really." Robin tried to assure her.

"You know he is? You didn't make it sound that way earlier." She put her hands on her hips. Dick scrambled for words.

"You might say that getting him out was our first priority. _Which is technically true." _He said to himself. Barbara let out a sigh and her she swayed slightly. Robin put out his hand to steady her.

"I was so worried." She mumbled. "I couldn't help but feel to blame if he was taken. I don't know what I would have done if I never saw him again." Dick suppressed a smile.

Barbara looked up at him, still looking tired, but now with new resolve. "Could you get him and bring him here?"

"What? No! He's probably been whisked away to a bunker or something." He said quickly. Barbara looked desperate.

"Please, Robin I'll never ask you for anything else ever. I have to see him now."

"Why?" He asked now curious even though he knew time was short. She took a deep breath.

"Because if I don't, I'll lose my nerve to say the thing that I have wanted to tell him for a while. Funny, how it took him almost being kidnapped to give me that courage." She gave a small smile. "Please?" Robin fumbled for a response.

"Well, can you just tell me or give me a note to take to him? Can it wait until tomorrow?" He asked. She shook her head.

"It's not the kind of message that you just 'pass on'. Please can't you just grab him, I'll make it quick." She pleaded. Robin stood there looking defeated.

"_I have no time to switch back, and I can't stand to see her this distressed. Bruce is going to kill me, but I'll take that risk."_

"I can't." He put simply. Barbara slumped her shoulders. "Because he is already here." He tacked on. Her face brightened up as she quickly looked around.

"Where? When did you put him up here?" She asked confused turning to face him.

"Just right now." Robin said taking a step closer towards her. Her face was blank; then, he could see the light bulb pop on as her knees gave way and crumpled towards the ground.

Robin caught her by her arms and helped her sit down gently. She looked over at him stunned.

"Dick?" She managed to whisper. He gave a grin.

"Yea?" He answered quietly not daring to say more.

She shook her head rapidly as if fighting to believe that it could be true. The she reached over placing her hands on both sides of his face, her thumbs lying just beneath the edge of his domino mask. She quickly pulled him towards her and gave him a kiss. Dick sat there stunned for three second before starting to kiss her back. After a minute, he reluctantly broke it.

"I have to get back. Stay here okay?" She nodded, and still looked stunned from her position on the roof top. Robin ran to the edge and jumped off.

Using the multiple ledges of the hotel's façade, he landed in front of the blocked off entrance. Just a few more thugs were inside. He spotted Commissioner Gordon by a squad car talking on the phone.  
"She had got to be somewhere! I dropped her off here personally! I will not. . ."

"Commissioner!" He ran over towards him. "Your daughter is on the roof of the hotel that sits behind this one." Gordon looked amazed.

"How the blazes did she get up there? Lieutenant! Gather up a few men, I need to get over to the roof of the . . ." He turned back to Robin and watched the whirl of colors as he headed back inside.

Back on the roof, Barbara sat there stunned. _"I didn't make that up right? He said yea. I don't think I made that up." _She glanced around the roof top taking in the view. _"I certainly didn't make this up." _She pulled her legs up under her chin as a breeze blew through.

A several minutes later, the exit door to the top roof flew open revealing her father holding a flashlight.

"Barbara?"

"Dad!" She got up and ran over to him. He knelt down to hug her.

"Are you okay? I couldn't find you. One of the men saw you come out, but then they lost sight of you." He said pulling her back from the hug and looking at her.

"I was looking for Dick, and . . . and Robin found me." She explained. "I didn't want to leave until I found Dick, but he grabbed me and put me up here." Gordon shook his head.

"Barbara you can not . . ."

"Commissioner?" one of the officers handed him a phone. Gordon stood up and put it to his head using his other hand to block the sound of the wind in his other ear.

"Yes? Yes? Good. Where did you find him? Really? Okay then, I'm coming down. Wayne's here to now? Very good. I am on my way." He handed the phone back and faced her. "You are going home sweetheart, you look tired. Don't worry they found Dick."

"I don't want to go back yet." She argued, although at the moment she felt terribly tired and drained.

"No arguments, come on." He took his daughter's hand and led her back downstairs. Barbara paused one second more to take in the view. The city looked calm, but her mind was a mess.

* * *

**Random End Notes: **Only a once more chapter to go, then an epilogue. :{ If any one cares to know, this roof top sequence is the first scene that I dreamed up and inspired this whole story. Seventeen chapters and it finally comes to life.

Alright tell me what you think. Advice, and (gentle) [be nice please! :}] criticism, would be appreciated. Or a haiku if you feel like one.


	18. Chapter 18

**Author's Note: ***Sniffle* Last real chapter to go, and then my epilogue. This has been an awesome ride.

Thanks for joining me!

**William Ice****: **(girlish sigh) I know. Thanks!

**Danni-Phantom13 : **The weird thing is, I've only seen the movie once. (I was sniffling like crazy during

the first few minutes of that movie. Curse you Disney for being making me cry before any of the

characters have actually spoken! (They are too good over there.)

**Laura: **Thanks a ton! I'm glad you liked it! I would looove to do something in the future, but as of yet no

inspiration has come to continue on along this story line.

**kaittybee****: **I'm going to sound narcissistic, but I really love the idea I got for that scene. Thanks for

reading!

**theL3monTart****: **They are toooo cute. I could go on about them all day, but we all have better things to do

then to listen to me ramble.

**AnonymousInternetNinja****: **Me either. :( But alas all good things must come to an end. *sniffle*

**jdcocoagirl****: **Yep. I think I have put enough stress on these two. Thanks for reading!

**Rhia-of-Themyscira****: **Aww! Thanks! :D

**SkyMyst****: **All will be revealed my friend! Thanks for reviewing!

**blackprinses7****: **Me too! :) Thanks a bunch!

**Disclaimer: ** This will be the eighteenth time that you have read this. I think you realize that I own none of

the characters by now.

**Remember: **_Say it with me! This is thinking!_

++++++++Chapter Eighteen++++++++

Barbara awoke with a start.

"Dad? Dad?" She called as she pushed off the covers of her bed and ran to the living room. Her father was seated in front of the television with a mug of coffee in hand.

"There you are. See you were tired. It's almost one o'clock." He motioned to the clock on the wall. Barbara rubbed her eyes as she stared at the screen.

"Almost every single member of the New Kings gang was taken in last night. However their mastermind still remains at large, whoever he is, wherever he is at this point. I'm not too concerned at the moment about that though." He said pausing as he took a drink. Barbara couldn't help but say,

"Oh, like how concerned you were about Dick?"

Gordon paused with the mug still at his mouth. He pulled it back and gave a sigh.

"In this business Barbara you have to pick and choose. I can't have men out chasing a bunch of 'maybes' when we are stretched thin and there are real crimes happening. However, you saw something that I didn't and for that I'm sorry. I'm just glad that it all worked out." He said firmly. Barbara breathed in and released it back out.

"Me too." She replied. Her dad gave her a smile.

"I hope you are hungry, because I splurged and made blueberry pancakes and bacon." He told her.

"I'm always hungry for that." Barbara declared walking into the kitchen still dressed in her pajamas. She paused before getting the orange juice out and ran back to her room to grab her phone.

Coming back in to the kitchen, she set it down next to her plate as she served herself. There were practically a hundred messages from Dawn since she knew Barbara was going last night, several more from various other kids at school, but none from Dick. She frowned as she stared at the screen. Her father glanced over.

"If you can't reach him, don't panic. Wayne mentioned something about taking him out of the country for the weekend." He informed her. Barbara sighed.

"Did Dick seem okay?" She asked with concern.

"A little shell-shocked maybe, but he seemed okay." He took another sip. "You know I've been hard on Wayne as far as Dick is concerned, but you know, I think he has some real fondness for the boy." He father said. Barbara nodded and stared back down at her phone.

"_I didn't make this up. I didn't!"_

* * *

Barbara was woken up the next morning by her dad.

"Hey Barb, it's time to get for school, although, if you want to stay home today I'll let you." He spoke quietly.

"What? No, I'm going. I'm fine." She insisted. She rolled out of bed and grabbed her clothes. As soon as she was dropped off at the front of school, her mind was racing.

"_I didn't make it up. He said 'yea', unless, he didn't hear what I said properly. But he seemed so much like Dick at that moment!" _She pushed open the doors. _"It can't be Dick. That's crazy! I was just really frazzled and didn't hear what Robin said. That must be it." _She stopped walking. _"And then I kissed him. Again." _She started walking towards her locker.

"_That better have been Dick or I'm going to have to have an awkward talk with Robin about how I keep accidentally kissing him when I mean to kiss someone else." _Barbara put a hand on her forehead. _"This really only could happen to me." _

She took a deep breath. _"Alright, I won't say anything about what happened on the roof last night unless he brings it up. That way I can know for sure." _

She paused when she turned the corner. There was a massive group of kids in the middle of the hallway. She picked up on the sound of Dick's voice.

"Okay! Okay! Come on! I got to get going! Ask someone else!" She heard him say. She saw him squeeze out from the gathering of kids and shoot her a grin.

"I swear I've only been here for ten minutes and I'm already sick of telling the story. I wasn't even there for most of it!" He told her while spinning in his locker combination.

"I really glad you're okay." She said. He paused and looked back at her sincerely.

"I'm glad that you're okay too. I saw you get out, but then . . ." He tired to say.

"I couldn't find you. _Maybe because you were Robin?_" She stared at him.

He stopped pulling out his books and stared back.

"We need to have a really long lunch today." He said. She nodded.

"I tried texting you yesterday." She informed him. Dick smiled and nodded.

"Yea, Bruce and I went out of the country. We decided to grab some gelato in Italy."

"Because it is so close." She commented dryly. Dick shrugged.

"It is when you have your own plane. He didn't let me take my phone. He thinks I'm becoming too obsessed with it. I was like 'no I'm not, so give it back!'" He said laughing. "I saw the message when we got home early this morning, but I assumed and hoped that by that hour you were asleep."

Dawn suddenly came bounding up.

"Oh, my word! How are both of you?" She asked looking practically giddy. Dick groaned.

"Please don't have me repeat everything again. Go ask . . ." He motioned in the direction of the huddle of kids.

"I've already talked to Michael, and Freddy, and . . . well everyone except you two! I bet it was soo scary! I think I might even get some inspiration for a song!" She exclaimed.

Dick rolled his eyes as the bell rang

"Oh, Barb, we have got to talk girl, you didn't answer my texts or my calls!" Dawn said while looking in Barbara's direction.

"Maybe later okay? Or tomorrow?" Barbara finally said.

"You better." Dawn ordered before bouncing away.

"Just another day at school, right Babs?" Dick said with a smile. She nodded and they parted.

Barbara sat all through her classes with one thing revolving in her head.

Was Dick, or was he not, Robin.

At some moments it seemed absurd, and then at others, it seemed plausible.

She waited agonizingly for the bell to ring for lunch. As soon as it did, she was out the door and quickly grabbed Dick.

"Are we going to eat at all?" He asked as she pulled him outside.

"No. Last on there is a rotten egg." She sprinted off with Dick close on her heels. She thought she was going to beat him, but at the last moment he pulled ahead and touched the bark first.

"I win!" He exclaimed gleefully and then promptly sat down at the base of the tree.

"So are you okay? Really I mean." She asked him again. He glanced up at her.

"I'm fine. A little tired still. How are you and your dad?" He asked in kind.

"Good and good." She answered as she sat down next to him still breathing heavily. _"Maybe I'm wrong maybe he's not Robin." _

"Aww." He yawned and stretched out his arms. "Ouch." He reached over and rubbed his shoulder.

"Are you okay?" She repeated.

"Yea, just aftershocks from last night I guess." He answered.

They both stared across the yard. For a split second, Barbara thought about bringing up being saved by Robin, but then decided against it.

"So are you okay? Really I mean." He asked this time. He glanced in to her green eyes.

"Yea, I am." She crossed her arms as she answered. He stared at her with his head cocked to one side and then looked out at the grass.

"Good, because you were still shaky when I left you Saturday night." He felt Barbara froze.

"_When we talked before the competition I wasn't shaky, I was only shaky when Robin left me on the . . ."_ Barbara's mind was spinning. She turned to stare at him, but he wasn't looking at her. She could almost see the corners of his mouth turned up.

"Dick." She said softly, finding her courage again.

"Yes, Babs?" He turned to look at her. His blue eyes seemed to dance back at her, daring her to ask the question that was on her lips.

"You're . . . aren't you?" She spoke carefully not daring to speak the words. He shrugged.

"Maybe." He answered with a grin.

She gave him a huge smile and wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

"I wanted to think . . . but it jus seemed to crazy to . . . holy cow Dick you could get hurt!" She slapped him on the arm pulling away.

"Ow! So far it's only been from you today." He replied inspecting his arm.

"Wait hold on." Barbara went silent. "No, no." She looked at him with wide eyes. "There is no way that Bruce . . ." Dick raised an eyebrow as he watched her face. ". . . but he's soo." She fumbled for the words.

"Bruce." Dick said answering her. "Crazy right? Oh, have I gotten to the part where I tell you that you can't tell anyone or I'll get grounded for life?" Barbara laughed.

"This is insane." Her mouth fell slightly open. "All those times you were sleepy in class and I yelled at you for it . . ."

"No harm done. Really Babs, it's okay." He patted her arm. "You were just being concerned."

A million things were still running through her mind.

"You saved me that night, and then you brought me cookies and let me . . . oh, Dick! You can fly again!" Her eyes slightly watered at the thought. Dick grinned.

"It's more like gliding." He corrected her. She was still talking a million miles and hour.

"And here I was explaining to you about you being in danger. How did you keep a straight face?" She asked.

"It was a serious topic—one that I didn't even know about. Bruce however has agreed to let me know when something is up. Grant it, I had to fight for it." He added on leaning against the tree trunk.

"I don't know how you do it." She said softly. "I think you could manage to keep busy enough with out throwing in the safety of the whole city."

"It's a challenge all right." He answered.

She seemed to stare him over. "It just seems too crazy to believe. Everything seems so different in the dark." She mused. "That night we went flying was soo cool!" Her face suddenly turned red at the thought about what else happened that night.

"_So I did kiss Dick. Twice in fact, and for some reason, it's still awkward." _She looked away from him. _"Come on Barbara find your courage again! He could have been taken or killed last night! For the love of Pete, just do it!" _She turned back to him and found him looking at her with a quizzical look on his face. She leaned over and gave him a kiss. After a second, he reached up and ran a hand across her cheek as he leaned into her. They broke apart softly. Dick opened his eyes and breathed out.

"Finally." He whispered.

"What?" She asked opening her eyes to stare at him. He suddenly looked sheepish.

"Well, up to this point you've only kissed Robin and I was starting to think that . . ." She started laughing.

"Only you could be jealous of yourself." She said as she rolled her eyes.

"I would like to deny that." He said crossing his arms giving her a stern look. She grinned and shook her head. She watched him yawn again.

"I surprised you made it this far. You should have just stayed home." She scolded him.

"Nope, a good super hero has to balance work and school—Alfred's orders." He chuckled. "I'm not really too bad. You look tired too though." She nodded.

"The past couple of nights have not been the best sleep of my life." She commented. "Dick?" He appeared to be asleep. She gently nudged him. Nothing. She smiled and leaned against him closing her eyes. Suddenly, she felt really tired too.

Barbara rolled over in her bed and tried to bury her head into her pillow. It wasn't working out so well. When she opened her eyes she realized why. For starters, she wasn't in bed and secondly, Dick was her pillow. She rubbed her eyes.

"What time is it?" She mumbled. Dick stirred and cracked open his eyes. He sat up a bit more and stretched. He pulled out his phone from his pocket. His eyes grew wide.

"Late, really late." He expounded showing her the time. Babs' mouth dropped open.

"School is over! I didn't even hear the bell ring! Any of the bells ring!" She grabbed her own phone out. "My dad has as million messages on my phone, wanting to know where I am! He's probably called in the Marines by now!"

"Calm down. School hasn't been over for that long. Just long enough for Alfred to call me six times." Dick added. "He's probably out in the parking lot, come on." He pulled her up.

"I've never skipped out on school like that. What is everyone going to think?!" She asked horrified.

"Barbara Gordon is now a rebel!" Dick announced to the empty yard as they walked towards the front. Barbara put her face into her hands.

"Don't even kid about it. My dad is going to have my head." She moaned as they walked towards the parking lot. It was almost empty, one vehicle stood out: a shiny black Rolls Royce. Alfred immediately got out.

"Master Richard!" He called out in a stern voice. Dick cringed.

"Remember the conversation we had about getting in trouble? Who would be the worst to get in trouble with your dad or Batman?" He whispered at her. Barbara nodded starting to grimace. "I think I am going to win." Dick declared.

"No you aren't. Bruce will accept that you are tired, what do I tell my dad?" She pulled on his sleeve.

"You were tired too?" He offered.

"Master Dick, Miss Gordon where on earth have the two of you been?" Alfred demanded. They both looked at each other.

"Getting reacquainted." Dick said with perfect honest. Then he and Barbara smiled at one another as they started laughing right in front of Alfred who, though didn't understand, looked amused.

"_And we've only just gotten started." _

* * *

Dawn still wanted to talk to Barbara about what had (if anything) happened between her and Dick.

"And something had better have happened!" She ordered Barbara over the phone.

So there they were, all three of them, sitting outside of a hotdog stand.

"Okay, okay. Back this thing up." Dawn held up a hand while she spoke. "Let me see if I've got this straight. So you, Barb, go to the mathlete thing where you already are Dick, right?"

Barbara and Dick glanced at each other from across the table and nodded.

"Okay and pick up there." Dawn said to Barbara, who took one last glance over at Dick and began to speak.

"Well, so I went there and found Dick . . ."

"Blah, blah, get to a good part!" Dawn said. Barbara sighed and started talking again.

"Okay, well, I wanted to talk to him, so I found him and told him so."

"But it was about time for the competition," Dick said taking over, "so we had to put it off until after words."

"Wait so, you guys didn't even talk about until yesterday at school?" Dawn said in disbelief.

"Yea." Barbara said.

"So you just blurted it out and told him that you liked him?" Dawn asked.

"Well," Barbara said fighting a blush, "It wasn't that direct."

"What is wrong with you two? You are both hopeless." Dawn said in frustration. "You could have really had some sort of romantic 'get together' story that could have involved bad guys with guns, and some sort of 'realization' moment when you both realize the truth and have the guts to say it!"

Dick gave Barbara a look of disbelief.

"I'm sorry we didn't plan it out better." Dick said with perfect sincerity to Dawn who wasn't fooled by his tone.

"I'm just saying you could have had better timing." Dawn said crossing her arms.

"What would you have liked to have happened?" Barbara asked her while sharing a secret smile with Dick.

"Well, for one thing, you could have been seconds away from telling him and . . .oh, wait no, you could have said something like 'Dick, I really . . .' and then BAM the bad guys break in leaving him in suspense and then there could have been some near death experience or something, and then . . ." She stopped noting the looks that Babs and Dick were giving her. "Hey, all I am trying to point out is that you two had better come up with a better story than that lame on you just gave me. Did you two even kiss?" She asked.

Dick shifted uncomfortably and tried not to stare at Babs.

"Um, is there a point to this?" He asked.

Dawn rolled her eyes.

"Just think of something a little more exciting to tell people would you? I can't believe all my hard work led to this." Dawn said leaning her arms on top of the picnic table.

"What work did you do?" Dick asked glancing over at Barbara.

"Hey, we're together aren't we?" Babs asked Dawn.

"I suppose." The blond girl muttered looking around. Dick caught Barbara's eye and shot her a grin.

"So, something, like: the bad guys showed up and I was worried what was going to happen to Barbara until I saw her exit the room safely. Then conveniently avoiding the bad guys, I was able to free the rest of the math team, and heroically meet up with Babs. Where we climbed on top of a building where we had a long conversation about how we feel about each other?" Dick ended by saying. Babs kicked him under the table.

Dawn rolled her eyes again, stood up, and put on her large pair of sunglasses. "Dick," she said, "It has to be believable."

"Oh, I forgot about that part." He said shooting Babs a grin as they stood up to follow Dawn out onto the sidewalk.

"You two should be so happy, that I am here to help you along." She stopped to walking and turned around to face them. She gave a smile. "As lame as your little story is, I am happy for both of you." Dawn gave a final wave with the back of her hand and strolled off.

"Dick, you were kind of pushing it there!" Barbara chastised him as Dawn walked out of hearing range.

"Oh, come on Babs, Dawn isn't going to put anything together. You didn't tell her anything about it right?" He said since he had never actually considered the idea.

"You'd better hope not!" She said jabbing him.

"Oh, come on Babs." Dick said laughing as they continued walking. Reaching over, he grabbed her hand and held it in his.

"So, you want to do something?" He offered.

"Oh, really? Like what?"

"Like whatever people who are 'together' do—movies, malls, long walks in parks. . ." He rambled on until Babs gave him a playful punch on the arm.

"Okay then, let's start with a park then." She squeezed his hand, and steered him in the right direction.

They were right at the entrance to the park when Dick's phone rang. He pulled it out and grimaced.

"Uh . . ." He began, looking over at her expecting the worse. She shook her head and let his hand go.

"Alright go on. Go save the world." She said with a smile.

"Well, just the city tonight." He told her with a smirk. "Are you sure you're okay?" He asked more seriously.

She gave him a look of disbelief.

"Of course it's okay!"

"Well, you say that now," He began. "But down the road it may get in the way of our plans for stuff. So you might have to get used to it."

Barbara began to smile. "'Down the road?' Just how far have you planed this relationship?" She said as her smile grew as Dick turned a shade of pink.

"Oh, ah, nothing really I guess. I mean. . ." He stopped talking and rubbed the back of his neck.

"But, you do have to call me when you get back so that I know you're safe." She instructed.

"What if it's really early?" He asked.

"I don't care. I probably won't be asleep anyway. Or I guess you can just top by." She offered.

"You still want me to stop by?" Dick asked in confusion.

"Of course and you better! I want to go flying again!" Barbara said resisting the urge to twirl around.

"When I can, okay? It's not as easy as you might think to get free time in this city at night. All the crazies come out." He informed her.

"Well, then maybe I should see for myself sometime." Barbara added looking thoughtful. Dick was immediately against it.

"Oh, no you don't! You better not try and do anything or Robin will never visit you again!" He threatened.

"Oh, yea?" Babs countered. "Well, then I'll make Dick Grayson's life miserable."

They both stood at the park entrance glaring at each other. They simultaneously broke into grins.

"Get going, Boy Wonder." She whispered. "I'll see you tonight."

"Tomorrow." He said walking away.

"Tonight." She repeated.

He didn't stop this time to argue.

"_Well, then maybe I should see for myself sometime." _Her words swirled in his head. He turned and looked back.

Maybe, just maybe, it wouldn't be a terrible idea.

* * *

Alright tell me what you think. Advice, and (gentle) [be nice please! :}] criticism, would be appreciated. Or a haiku if you feel like one.


	19. Epilogue

**Author's Note: **Well, here we are, at the end. It's not very long. :{ Thanks for being here!

**Disclaimer: **I think we covered this quite thoroughly all these past times, so there should be no confusion.

**Guest: ? ? ? o_o ? ? ?  
**

**always-grayson: **Thanks a bunch! Very nice of you!

**iq-of-a-banana**** : **I always appreciate a good haiku. Yours was great! Thanks!

**AnonymousInternetNinja**: That part with Dawn was actually the last part of this story that I wrote. I tacked it on with the last chap, but at one point I wasn't going publish that part at all. But I reworked it some and then decided to throw in on in the end. Glad you liked it!

* * *

++++++++Epilogue++++++++

A soft tapping could be heard on the window.

It was so soft that Barbara almost didn't hear it. Sleepily lifting herself from the bed, the noise registered. She quickly threw off the covers and ran to her window yanking it straight up. Sticking her head out, she caught sight of a familiar masked face.

"Sorry, I didn't hear my alert go off. I feel like I just went to bed." She explained.

Pulling her head back in she walked quickly over to her dresser and pulled the bottom drawer open. Her eyes suddenly caught the time.

"Holy cow, I practically just did get to bed! What's happening?" She asked as she watched Nightwing crawl through the window. "Did someone escape or something?" She asked hurriedly as she pulled out her suit. He stood there silently.

"The alert didn't go off because nothing has happened." He said finally. She dropped her hands and wadded her suit up as she let out an exasperated sigh.

"Then why on earth did you wake me up!" She demanded as quietly as possible. He shrugged.

"I just thought maybe you wanted to go flying for a bit." He offered her temptingly.

She turned away from him and stared down into her drawer. He shifted his feet where he stood, a slow smile forming on his face.

She eventually spoke up. "It's a good thing you're cute. You know that?" She said turning to face his blue eyes. He shrugged but there was a grin on his face.

"So people have told me." He said jokingly. She glared at him.

"Give me a minute." Barbara spoke softly. She disappeared and in a moment or two, Batgirl stood in her place.

"Ready to go? It's still a lovely night." Nightwing commented. Batgirl stuck her head out and stared down at the street.

"As lovely as it ever is in this town." She mentioned offhandedly.

"Well, that's our job isn't it?"

Batgirl yawned. "It's just too bad we can't get any beauty sleep." She stretched her arms out.

"It doesn't matter because you don't need any." He said affectionately. She turned to face him.

"Don't get cute with me." She said seriously. His grin only got bigger.

"Why?" He asked. "Because you can't resist it?" He teased.

She shook her head fighting a smile, but didn't answer.

"Well, we better get going then before something actually does happen." Nightwing pointed out.

They both crawled out the window and onto the ledge. They both paused to look over the city.

"Which way do you want to go?" He asked her.

"I don't really care. Do you care one way or the other?" She asked back.

"Wherever you go, I'll be right behind you." He said with a smile.

"I suppose there really is no getting rid of you at this point is there?" She said teasingly.

"Nope." He replied pulling her close to him.

He smiled down at her though his mask and past hers. He leaned down to touch his lips to hers when she shrugged out of his embrace.

"Hey!" He objected. She shook her head back at him.

"Nope. I've learned my lesson. I wouldn't want to make Dick Grayson jealous."

Nightwing put his hands on his hips and said, "You are never going to let that go are you?"

"Nope. It is still way too funny." She answered grinning.

"Well," he began, "As long as you like one of us."

"Exactly." She answered giving him a kiss on the cheek. "So left then? Towards the library?"

"Ladies first." He answered gallantly. She stuck her tongue out at him and took out her grappling hook.

"Still the best gift ever." She commented to him with a smile. Nightwing shook his head.

"I knew I shouldn't have gotten you one." The remark earned him a smack on the arm.

"Ready?" She asked excitedly. Nightwing had to smile.

Still after all these years it was their favorite thing to do. Flying was always fun, but it was even better when you did it with someone you loved.

It was simple really. It really had always been between them, right from the start.

* * *

**Random End Notes: **See? I know, not very long. (sorry) [Did you notice that I did the cliché 'used the title as the last sentence?'] Oh, well. :)

I want to thank all you people who took time to read and review, I hope I made it worth your while! Thanks for all the advice and encouragement along the way! I leave you all with a haiku.

Thank you all so much

I had tons of fun with this

You are all awesome!

Let me know what you thought overall! Thanks again!


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